(TIK)

All posts tagged (TIK)

BAKING LINEBACKER SURPRISE

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/07/26
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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LINEBACKER is the weakest position on the Eagles team. At least that’s what we keep being told. Not just by the local and national sports medias, but also off-shoot independent bloggers. Hell, even I’VE laid offerings at the foot of the “OUR LINEBACKERS ARE TRASH!!!” altar.

But what if we’re all wrong? What if everyone is wrong, because we’re seeing it from the wrong angle?

We keep looking at the LB’s in terms of who the players are. After all, it’s not like Head Coach Doug Pederson can get out there and stop RB Adrian Peterson from ripping a 90 yard TD run right up the gut of our Defense. (Then again, it’s not like LB Nate Gerry could either.) So of course a fan’s knee-jerk reaction, is to look at it in terms of “Well, who are our LB’s?“

At least, that’s what an average fan does. You’re reading this, so clearly, YOU aren’t average. Welcome to being better than other people.

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What we haven’t been doing, (both average fans and us alike), is recognizing all the changes made to the brain trust that runs our Defense. Specifically, the switch in Defensive Line Coach from Chris Wilson to Matt Burke, and the switch from Secondary Coach from Cory Undlin to Marquand Manuel.

D-Line, Linebackers, Secondary. Those are the three tiers of a defense, and we just changed two-thirds of ours. You can’t change two-thirds of anything, and not have a noticeable difference in outcome, from prior output. Good or bad, it just can’t be done.

Understand, the overall system and most core concepts run by Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz will remain the same. What will change, are some of the ideas, the approaches, and thus the implementation of the overall system. As of now, it seems that everything has been changed to support the LB position.

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Over the last few years, the Eagles have been leaning harder and harder into these LB/S tweeners types. Today the roster sports a fistful of them. Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, Jatavis Brown, and rookie Davion Taylor, have all historically sported playing weights of under 230 pounds. Which seems weird in a division of larger opposing RB’s.

The emphasis seems to be on having guys who can fly to the ball-carrier, over guys who can stop a ball-carrier, or take on an offensive lineman’s block. That means keeping offensive linemen off of our LB’s, which indicates a coming change in our D-Line’s technique.

Enter Matt Burke. So now do you see where this is going? Of course you do. You’re smart enough to be here, and I explained it well.

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If our Defense is going to have major new wrinkles to it, maybe it’s best to have young, unestablished players running it. Players who have have a similar skill set, so they can be replaced in case of injury. Players who can’t count on their unique ability to earn them playing time. They’re all competing at doing task “X” with technique “Y”. This allows the coach to objectively pick the best player at it.

For example: Remember when we ran a 3-4 under TIK (The Idiot Kelly), and Brandon Graham played OLB? We relied on him for pass rush, right? Being that Graham has played pass rush OLB, should we start him at OLB, instead of coverage LB Gerry? No. Of course not.

Now imagine for a moment that you’re an Eagles coach, and you have to make that choice. While (mind you), factoring in the premium put on pass rushers. NOPE! The Eagles have nixed all of that. They went out and stockpiled a very specific type of player, indicating that they also, have a very specific type of plan. 

This is literally a move that the team has been telegraphing for half a year now. That said, until a few days ago, I was out here like a dope, not seeing it. Ugh! Like some average writer. Now having picked up on what Western Union was putting down, I wanted to make sure that I shared that telegraph signal with you.

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So in October, when the Eagles LB’s keep surprise everyone this season, we can sip tea and say that we saw it coming even before Training Camp opened. Because we aren’t average fans.

THE PLAYOFF TEAM THAT SCARES ME

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/05
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Fans, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

WHICH team do I fear in the playoffs this season? Who will be the toughest test, for Head Coach Doug Pederson? Everyone has a team that they fear for some reason or another, and I’m no different.

Most fear the Minnesota Vikings, minnesota vikingsbut I’m not entirely sure why. Yes, they have a good defense. Other than that, we’re talking about a team that’s been held to fewer than 17 points, 4 times. They’ve also played 2 games against the Bears (rookie QB), 2 games vs the Packers (no Aaron Rodgers), and had games against the Browns, Redskins, Buccaneers, and Bengals. Seriously, that’s half a season worth of gimmies! That’s 8 – 0 because the sun came up. The rest of the way they were 5 – 3, but just 1 – 2 on the road vs this season’s playoff teams. Minny is a dome team, and has played 11 of their 16 games either in a dome or in warm weather. Readers who don’t live in or around Philadelphia may not know this, but Philly’s winter weather isn’t likely to do the Vikings any favors.And if you do live in Philly, just look outside your window right now.fans 1 Dome team. ‘Nuff said.

new orleans saintsMany fear the New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees and RB Alvin Kamara. Thrown in a defense that has improved steadily for two years, and the Saints are actually respectable opponent. That said, they suffered 3 of their 4 losses, on the road, and played 14 of 16 games either in a dome or in warm weather. Our last playoff game was a home loss to the Saints in cold weather, but keep in mind, we were being coached by an idiot (TIK) who proudly ignored basic pro football wisdom, and then was out-coached by a guy deliberately employing Football 098 tactics, just to show him up in front of the nation. Well, we’re no longer being coached by an idiot.

los angeles rams.jpgSome fear the Los Angeles Rams. We beat them in a shootout that QB Carson Wentz played most of, before tearing his ACL. This time around we have Nick Foles in the pilot seat. While Foles is no Wentz, he is still more than capable of leading this Offense. Also, perhaps our Defense might show up for this game, unlike the last time we played the Rams. Oddly enough, the Rams on the road were 7 – 1, and so were better than the 4 – 4 they were at home. However, given that they won’t receive a Bye week, I’ll wait to see if (and more importantly how) they survive the first round, before deciding if I’m concerned about them. They concerned me during the regular season, but I’ll need another look at them before deciding if they warrant that again. However, if you put a gun to my head and asked me if I’m concerned about them today, I’d have to say that I’m not. This time we have a real MLB, and won’t be starting and playing most of this game in the Nickel.

Atlanta. Yeah, no one fears Atlanta. It might be wise not to stand to close to them, since they have a tendency to self-destruct, and we don’t want to get any of their stank, on us.

Which brings me to my point. The only team I fear in these playoffs.

It’s the Eagles. That’s it.

We’re a team that can pump on all cylinders. Offense? We put up 30 per game. (23.5 under Foles, even if you subtract the defensive TD vs Oakland). Defensively we hold teams to 18 points per game. Our Special Teams has repeatedly proven themselves as clutch and/or pivotal this year. So we can do it all.

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Instead of being a team that is offensive or defensive, we’re complete on all THREE sides. As long as the Eagles bring even our “C” game, at the very least we’re going to be in the game until the very end (See: Chiefs and Seahawks). If we bring our “B” game or better, we’ll be sending teams on long, quiet plane rides to clean out their lockers.

No. I don’t fear any of the poor suckers who have the misfortune to come visit the NFL’s best football team. The only thing I fear is the Eagles executing poorly. As long as that doesn’t happen, no one is coming into OUR HOUSE and leaving it with a win.

LET’S MAKE SOME DEALS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/06/28
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

TRADING or outright releasing. That’s what most of us thought would happen with OLB Mychal Kendricks, RB Ryan Mathews, and C Jason Kelce, prior to the 2017 Draft. As of today (6.28.17) all three are still Eagles. The thinking was that the Front Office would want to free up cap space, to continue this rebuild with players who better fit what we’ll be doing.

The hope was for us to offer a couple trade packages (consisting of one of these players and a pick), to help us move up a few spots in the same round of the 2017 Draft. Well, nothing of that sort happened. Hence not one, not two, but all three of those guys are still here. Six points to you if you saw that coming. (Bonus two points to anyone who thought we’d take a DE in the first round.)

I got to wondering what fans think we should do with those guys now, but I didn’t want to ask too broad of a question. I decided to break it into three pieces and then review the parts next week. So I posed a question in EAGLES MANIACS (my Eagles Facebook group), and a few other Eagles groups to which I belong. This is that question:

TRADE MATHEWS

My initial plan was to ask two more questions, but what I saw disturbed me, and I thought it needed addressing immediately. The percentage of fans who thought we should just cut both Mathews and Kendricks, was distressing to say the least.

Eagles fans may be frustrated with them, but Mathews and Kendricks are solid NFL veterans. They wouldn’t spend long in an unemployment line. They’d be fine and we’d be fine, but that’s not the point. That’s not the problem. What bugged me is how many people were willing to accept low-ball, or no-ball offers for these players. Fans were literally ASKING for this team to get hosed on a trade, or worse, get nothing at all for arming another team. For example:

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Releasing them for nothing would just be stupid. Just plain stupid. Giving away talent was something we hated about TIK , remember? First, because we’d be giving away solid players for no compensation. Secondly, if the Eagles cut any of them, we’re still on the hook for paying them this season. It would take a trade (with specific language included) to remove the Eagles financial obligation to these players.

What makes more sense is to find away to move these players prior to camp. Waiting for a camp injury leaves too much to chance, and puts us in the position of almost wishing for some hardworking players to get hurt. That’s classless and wrong, so we won’t do that. (It’s Eagles, not vultures.) The smart thing would be to move these players before a team needs them. (By the way: This would help us out with future trades. ASK ME HOW!)

Ryan Mathews for example. We could partner with a team that has no depth at RB (Detroit, Green Bay); or a team who’s RB is 150 years old (New York (J), Indianapolis); or a team still trying to determine if they have a legitimate RB in their stable (Denver).

There are options on the table. We just need to take one sooner than later.

 

WHY I’M BEHIND DOUG PEDERSON

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/13
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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DOUG Pederson has to be successful here. The franchise is in serious trouble if he isn’t. Possibly for decades to come.

Back in November of last year (2015) it was clear to me that owner Jeff Lurie was itching to fire (TIK) despite him having posted two straight 10-6 seasons as the team’s Head Coach. While I was all for (TIK) quitting (or leaving by some other means), I wrote on 11/27/15 that firing him prior to the end of his fourth season would be a mistake. Well, on 12/29/15, with a game left to go in the season, Lurie dropped the hammer.

Not only do I still think the timing was bad, but one of my fears soon came to pass. Look at the candidates who came sniffing at the Eagles vacant Head Coach position. Position coaches, and a couple retreads, but no real up-and-coming Coordinators bothered to have serious conversations here.

The fan base was hardly what you would call energized when Pederson was interviewed or hired. We didn’t hate him. In fact, I wrote that I am fully behind him. However, we recognized that Lurie was just running back to the familiar, when he hired him. Pederson was a safe choice for Lurie due to his familiarity and willingness to work with General Manager Howie Roseman, because many coaches in the NFL would not and will not.

If Pederson doesn’t work out here, then naturally Lurie will have to fire him. The problem comes with replacing him. No one wanted this job already. If we’re still trending in the wrong direction, and our biggest problem still seems to be our Front Office, then no one who is clearly worth having, will want the job. We will again have to gamble on a guy being able to grow into the role, and hope that he becomes a gem for us. This is how we ended up with (TIK), and then how we ended up with Pederson.

So we need Pederson to work out. Not just for immediate gratification, but for the long picture as well. Once upon a time the Eagles set the Gold Standard for the NFL as an organization, and that attracted both coaches and Free Agents to us. Today we’re becoming the New Cleveland Browns, as we’re now known more for the talent we lose, than the talent we acquire.

Between the coming years of missing Draft picks, an unforgiving media, and a dysfunctional F.O., our pickings to replace Pederson would likely be laughable at best. We need to be behind this Head Coach. Pederson has to be successful here. Because we are staring into an abyss if he isn’t.

BACK THAT UP!

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/29
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments

Eagles RBs 2016

SO am I the only one here who’s concerned about our depth at Running Back? Honestly we could do worse than Ryan Mathews as a starter. However, only once in six NFL seasons has he been available for all sixteen games. He has also never started more than fourteen in any year so far. So common sense demands that we get a back-up who we can lean on in case he goes down.

Looking at who’s behind him, it’s hard not to get nervous.

Darren Sproles is a spark plug who can and has turned games around (that comeback against Jacksonville started with Sproles). The thing is, he’ll be 33 in less than a month, is 190 pounds soaking wet, and is coming off of one of the worst seasons in his career as a RB. If Mathews goes down, Sproles cannot be our bell cow. He just can’t handle the rigors of the job at this point. (FYI: His career high for carries in a year is 93. In 2009.)

Some people are excited about Kenjon Barner, but I don’t see why. He’s been in the NFL since 2013 and has yet to ever earn serious playing time. On two teams. In fact, in 2014 he was out of football altogether. Last year his college coach (TIK) pulled him off his couch to return kicks, and Barner excelled at it. However, he still offered little to no value as an NFL RB.

Then we have rookie Wendell Smallwood who is a little on the smallish side at only 201 pounds. I still take issue with him saying that 75% of the men in Philly are gay and that he doesn’t want to be here.

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Even when I put that to the side, when I watch his film what I see is an amazingly ordinary athlete. Average burst to and through the hole, not much in the way of second effort yardage, taking what is blocked for him because he doesn’t create… To be fair he is a fifth round pick, but where he was picked won’t be a good enough excuse if his number is called and he can’t respond.

Then we have rookie Free Agent Cedric O’Neal. He’s got decent size at 213, so that’s a plus. My big knock on him is he doesn’t have game tape that I can spot tendencies on. He just has a bunch of highlight reel stuff out there. While highlights are frequently unreliable, these do show that the guy’s style of play is Fizz E. Kal. I have to question the level of competition he played against, but seeing him run over and run away from guys made me think of (former Redskin) John Riggins, just in a smaller package.

There is also Byron Marshall but he’s more of a WR than a RB. He didn’t log a single carry in 2015 at Oregon.

So that’s it. That’s every RB on the roster. So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m slightly panicky over the idea of Mathews getting so much as a mosquito bite.

At this point we don’t even have the right parts for a RB by committee approach. (An approach that I detest by the way.) So I’m certain at some point that the Eagles will have to dive back into Free Agency in the next couple of weeks to get us some real depth. I just hope they get us something good.

NOTE: For my money, I’d like to get a long look at this O’Neal kid and maybe add someone like (former Eagles) Bryce Brown or Chris Polk. Both are unsigned as of today.

WE’RE A MESS, BUT WE’RE THE BEST

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

HUNTING

ANYONE who says that the Eagles don’t have major issues right now is either retarded or high, or maybe a little of both. There is a breakdown in leadership throughout this franchise that right now, almost suggests that we were better off under (TIK).

I said almost.

Things are being handled poorly right now, that’s without a doubt. However, I’m willing to give this staff the benefit of the doubt as they try to find their legs. I’m not just being lenient because Doug Pederson is a first-time Head Coach. That’s in there too, but it’s not the major reason.

Pederson is coming in here relying on many players that never played for any NFL team besides the Eagles and for no other NFL HC other than (TIK). There is an entire revamping of culture here. Approaches to preparation, and how the team handles players will be different now; and Pederson has to help those who only knew the NFL through (TIK) to adjust their mindsets. It’s a huge job.

Which is why this lack of leadership has me on all fours, vomiting up my organs out of anger a couple times a week. But everyone is still in shorts right now. Just like you can’t get too high on what guys do now, you can’t get too low either.

Which brings me to the guys! How do I see us winning the East if we have leadership problems and Sam Bradford is still the starting QB? Excellent questions! Get ready to feel really positive Eagles fans!

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First off, even with last year as bad as it was, we were only 1 game under .500, and just 2 out of first place. And that was with Bradford going 7-7 (he missed two games). That of course was in a year when our division rivals weren’t very good. The good news for us is that they haven’t really improved significantly.

Second, we on the other hand, have improved drastically with the subtraction of one man and the tearing out of his faulty culture.

Third, in the West Coast Offense we’re installing is an offensive system that is more stable than the system we ran last year. Being more stable it will keep our Defense from being as beat up as it was over these last two seasons.

Fourth, we’re about to have a real Defense again. Even if it isn’t the nightmare machine that I envision (SOOOO looking forward to this year), having a middle of the pack unit that doesn’t hemorrhage big plays through the air will be a huge improvement over the last 6 to 7 years.

We’re better in so many fundamental ways today and that’s with guys still running around in shorts.

Our rivals?

The Redskins improved an already scary receiving corps. Given that the game is still only played with one ball at a time, they didn’t add anything they didn’t already have there. They did however improve their secondary with CB Josh Norman. However with them not having a bottom-feeder schedule and a QB who can’t beat winning teams…well let’s say that barring a miracle, the Redskins 2016 season ended horribly at the conclusion of the 2015 season.

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The giants? They added a CB who likes us better, and raided the Dolphins for a middle of the road pass rusher. Hey JPP, what do you think?

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The Cowboys got a really good RB. In fact, I wanted him to come here. The idea there is that he’s going to allow them to return to the 2014 formula that produced a 12-4 record, and kept their QB from spending his year on Sean Lee. Excuse me, I meant Injured Reserve. Aside from their first pick, everyone else they drafted either seems to be injured or a project. Oh yeah, they did get Cedric Thornton from us. Maybe that will help?

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So with us being better and the rest of them chasing their tails, us improving that 7-9 mark and the Redskins likely failing to make 8-8…well it’s just basic math. Keep in mind until this becomes history, I realize it’s just me forecasting. Then again my track record for seeing these things is pretty solid.

(TIK).

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/26
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 11 Comments

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FREQUENTLY I make reference to someone named (TIK) and it’s confused a few people because up until now I’ve done a poor job of clearly explaining who I’m talking about. 

(TIK) stands for The Idiot Kelly. That’s Kelly as in Chip Kelly. You remember him. He’s the guy who decided that he was going to run an NFL franchise like an NCAA team. The same guy who decided to push 45 NFL veterans like they were 100 or so 18,19, 20 and 21 year olds. The same guy who thought that telling grown men when to eat and sleep would be good for team conditioning, while giving no consideration to team morale. The same guy who came in after our 4-12 season, to lead us to 10-6 (vs a last place schedule), without making many roster or lineup changes; yet who had a harder and harder time winning, the more he was allowed to implement his vision. The same guy who gave/traded away so much talent that Native Americans in Manhattan were clowning him on Facebook. 

THAT is who (TIK) is. 

SAM BRADFORD’S DAMAGE

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/13
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

Mick

SAM Bradford is by no means a favorite of mine, but let’s be fair here. While there can be no doubt that he damaged his standing in the locker room with his trade demanding, OTA holdout, hissy-fit; his place was made shaky by the Eagles Front Office well before his histrionics ever began.

The first shot was new Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson talking up Chief’s back-up Chase Daniel as being worthy of starting in mid-February. This is prior to re-signing Sam Bradford on March 1st.

If you recall, Bradford and his agent wanted 25M per year and the Eagles were sending the signal already that they already were looking at Daniel as a guy who could replace Bradford. This says to the locker room that the HC feels their starter could be replaced by a career back-up. That’s damage.

So Bradford re-signs, and the Chase Daniel thing is dismissed as a negotiating ploy. However, eight days later, Daniel is signed to more money than you would normally sign even a good back-up to. This raised eyebrows across the Delaware Valley and even had my guru Rhodie, shaking his head without verbal comment. (If you ask him about it still, he merely chuckles under his breath. I’m not sure what’s going on in that head of his, but my eyes are WIDE open.) If it raised eyebrows among fans and media (some of whom are former NFL players), you can bet it raised eyebrows among Eagles players. More damage.

Following all that, the Eagles then moved heaven and Earth, mortgaged the future, traded the farm (pick your favorite expression) to move up six spots from #8 to #2. At this point the writing was on the wall that they would be selecting a QB. For my part I did my best to look around it, over it, past it… I saw it coming but I HATED the idea. At this point though you can’t say that the speculation was adding to the damage, since nothing was concrete.

Then came the concrete. The Eagles drafted Carson Wentz #2 overall and THAT sent a clear message to not only the roster, but through the entire league. There was nothing subtle about it. For Bradford it was like waking up with a “Dear John” letter nailed to his forehead. His contract had become a countdown. Now everyone in the locker room would know he wasn’t The Man, he was just the guy warming The Man’s seat for him. That’s real damage right there.

So then if Bradford isn’t The Man, who is he?

Sam Bradford is the guy who takes the hits while the O-Line learns the new blocking scheme. Damage.

Sam Bradford is the guy who has to figure things out through trial and error, while Wentz watches the process refine itself. Damage.

Sam Bradford is the guy to absorb the losses on HIS record as the team acclimates to all the new things they have to relearn or unlearn after three years of (TIK). Damage.

Sam Bradford is the patsy in all this. He’s very well paid for the role (no doubt), but he’s the fall guy here. And that situation was set up well in advance of his hissy-fit.

He has undoubtedly lost this locker room and he is no position to get it back. That is unless something unspeakably tragic happens to Wentz and Bradford finally, miraculously finds his niche in the NFL. Aside from that combination of events though, we have to be fair. The Eagles damaged Bradford well before he did.