WELL before the Eagles won Super Bowl 52, we knew that TE’s Trey Burton and Brent Celek weren’t coming back to Philadelphia. Burton was about to be a free agent and command a nice chunk of change on the open market. TE Zach Ertz was the headliner in Philly, and there wasn’t enough cap space to sensibly have two high-priced TE’s.
So when the Chicago Bears backed a dump truck full of money (4 years, 32M$) up to Burton’s door, no Eagles fan had hard feelings about it. Absolutely nothing in his history suggested that he should have made even half of that, so the feeling was ‘Sure. He should take the money and run.’ We generally wished Burton well, (as long as he wasn’t playing against us), and everyone turned the page.
Well, the Bears just cut Burton after two seasons where he didn’t deliver on a deal that he was never, ever going to live up to. Honestly, Burton isn’t a starting TE. He’s more of a TE 2A/TE 2B type.I mean, statistically speaking, Zach Ertz had Burton’s entire career in 2018. So Burton won’t see another ridiculous payday, which means he’s not going to end up starting anywhere.
But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t valuable. Even highly valuable! Burton plays Special Teams. That’s kick coverage and hands team. He has collegiate experience at QB, HB, WR and TE. For the Eagles he’s lined up all over the place, and we do love to move our TE’s around. Which we can do, because we have a genuine TE 1 in Ertz.
This means that TE Josh Perkins (whom I like), would be the odd man out, but if you had to pick between Burton and Perkins… I mean c’mon, with Burton the Eagles get a Swiss Army knife who’s a better blocker. The only question is, would Burton be okay with the role of TE 3, behind TE Dallas Goedert? If so, then bringing him back here would be a great move for him, and for the team.
WIDE Receiver Greg Ward is a WR who’s played collegiate QB at a high level, yet in two years we’ve yet to utilize that. No Wild Cat, no Holder for Field Goals (as I’ve suggested over the last two offseasons). For a team that says it values versatility, the Eagles are doing a shitty job of holding onto it, and utilizing it. Allow me to elaborate!
Remember TE Trey Burton? Of course you do. TE, WR, RB, QB, Hands Team member, minister, bus driver, pilot, brain surgeon, Maytag repairman… Trey did everything. He made plays on Offense and Special Teams. He even threw perhaps the most important pass, in modern Eagles history.
If you look closely at #53 Kyle Van Noy, you can hear him shitting his pants in this photo.
We let him walk in 2018 because we already had TE Zach Ertz, and Chicago backed a dump-truck full of money (4 years 32M, 22 guaranteed), up to Burton’s door. We were already on the hook for 5M to Ertz, and couldn’t afford to counter. Chicago’s offer made Burton leave here so fast, that he was still getting dressed as he boarded the plane.
It worked out fine though. Burton is still a #2 caliber TE, but he has to start, because the Bears realized they grossly overpaid him. Meanwhile we were forced to draft TE Dallas Goedert. (Boo-hoo. Poor us, right?) He’s not as verstaile as Burton, but Goedert may end up replacing Ertz in 2021.
Now back to Ward. (Back toward Ward? Towards Ward?? Whatever.) Though we’re primarily a 21 Personnel team, we do run a fair amount of 31, as well.
This is why Josh Norman got cut.
When Ward is on the field, he can be used on Jet Sweeps (we already do this with him), and standard routes. He can also be shifted into Wild Cat QB, or motioned to RB, then used as a Screen receiver vs tight boxes, or fed Shovel passes when the defense spreads out. There are too many possibilities to ignore here.
I won’t write another paragraph about why he should be our Field Goal Holder. I’ll just include a link to the articlewhere I wrote about Ward specifically being the Holder. (I wrote another in 2019but it doesn’t mention Ward by name.)
In any case, we have a player who is a match-up headache. He has the ability to keep the defense guessing, and therefore keep them uncomfortable. That should be something we really want to do. Especially when we can do it so easily.
SPECIAL Teams has really fallen off here in Philadelphia over these last couple years. Some of it is player loss. Some of it is rule changes. Regardless, something needs to be done to make this unit’s presence felt again.
I still have faith in Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp. However, over the years he’s lost some key coverage specialists (LB Bryan Braman, S Chris Maragos, TE Trey Burton),
and has either missed out on the availability of our primary return specialist (2017, 2018 PR Darren Sproles) with injury, or lost them completely (2015 KR Josh Huff, 2018 KR Kenjon Barner).
A major part of the problem has been trying to give the Punt Returner job to one guy, and the Kickoff Returner job to one guy. When that player gets hurt (or cut for driving through Jersey with hollow-points and weed in his car), then other players get pressed into the duty. At that point the fill-ins are never as good.
Also with the new kickoff rules, KR’s are encouraged to take touchbacks rather than try to make something happen. How does the Offense begin an aggressive drive with kneeling? It’s psychologically counter-intuitive. Where is the spirit of competition?
It’s that very problem which gives rise to my solution. These jobs need to be split. Two PR’s and two KR’s.
BOOM! Right away the competition comes back. While I could end this article right there, and claim Supreme Victory, I have an even better idea…
To make things sweeter, Starters on the team could put money into a pot (maybe each Starter puts in 300$ per week, for a weekly pot of 6,600$, which can roll over.) When a returner breaks one for a touchdown, they get the whole pot. If a coverage guy forces a fumble, he splits the pot with whomever recovers the fumble. If more than one of these things happen in a game, then all of those players split the pot.
The coaches could give Special Teamers who commit no penalties, or who down balls inside the 5, an extra day off during the week. Holds and blocks in the back, would practically disappear. Near fanatical hustle would be evident on every play. From every player!
All throughout each aspect of Special Teams there would be improvement. Players would be competing with each other, and playing for short-term bragging rights. (After all, these weekly pots wouldn’t really make that big of difference to these guys financially.)
Our Special Teams is merely fine today. However, if we adopt and and adapt the Seahawks practice of encouraging competition among teammates, we will be ensuring ourselves of a unit that pushes themselves, and also each other. When teammates do that, excellence is sure to follow.
WEEK 10, I said that we should invite the Playoffs to Philly. I spoke of hosting the NFC Championship game here. It’s clear that my readers shared that article, and helped to put those good vibes out there, because that is exactly where we are today. To those of you who helped spread the word, Eagles Nation owes you one.
We were fortunate enough to have our invitation honored. Now with a little luck, we’ll get an invitation to put on a display for the world. Because make no mistake, the world will be watching, and it needs to see us.
Our display will be a tribute to passion and respect for the game, to teamwork, to perseverance in the face of adversity, and to our players keeping our noses clean, off the field, as private citizens. Given the state of the world today, these are all aspects that our world needs to see.
We’ve seen some teams having parties on boats, instead practicing for playoff games. We’ve seen some players stealing cologne and underwear. We’ve seen some organizations treating players like Rent-A-Center furniture.
Meanwhile, the Eagles players are requesting to practice for playoff games in pads. The organization is investing long-term in players who have performed well. The team is holding baptisms conducted by in-team minister TE Trey Burton, with many being led to faith by QB Carson Wentz.
I myself am not a religious man. However, given all the things our players could be up to, it’s good to see them supporting each other in doing something meant to improve their lives, while also creating a positive culture amongst themselves.
The world needs to see these Eagles. Kids could use heroes worthy of looking up to. Parents could use examples to point to. People need a beacon of positivity and unity, to guide them in from an ocean of negativity and division. The visibility of a Super Bowl win will do that.
Don’t wish for a Super Bowl win. Don’t merely hope for one. Don’t assume a victory in one. Instead, put out the vibe that the world needs the Eagles, THESE Eagles, to win it for ALL OF US.
PHILADELPHIA returns to the postseason with a home game against last year’s Super Bowl loser. After a 13 – 3 regular season run, the Eagles have secured home-field advantage, in the pursuit of becoming NFL Champions.
For the Falcons this is unfinished business. Last year they were up 28 – 3 over New England in the Super Bowl, before they ran out of energy, fell apart, then imploded, self-destructed, and shit the bed. The slack-jawed Falcons would go on to lose 28 – 34, after surrendering 31 un-fucking-answered points. (Man, I hate the Patriots.)
Their 2017 season has at times included bits of that same falling apart, imploding and self-destructing. While they can be a dangerous team, they are frequently their own worst enemy.
For the Eagles this is about Next Man Up. Despite over half a ton (1,383 pounds) of injuries this year, the Eagles kept winning games, and overcoming adversity. Having lost QB Carson Wentzto a torn ACL, veteran Nick Foles will step in to do his best Jeff Hostetler impression.
Just to drive that point home, here’s a look at Hostetler’s 1990 playoff run:
Stop worrying about Foles. The Eagles are a complete team, and can only be done-in by poor execution. As long as the Eagles bring our “B” game or better, we’ll walk out of this thing with the “W”.
So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the Falcons :
1) Run. The. Ball:Nick Foles isn’t a once-in-a-generation type of QB. He’s a complementary piece. This isn’t a bad thing to realize, it’s a bad thing to ignore, once you’ve realized it. The load for beating playoff caliber defenses cannot be shifted entirely onto Foles shoulders.
Let’s get north of 25 carries. We were the NFL’s #3 rushing team this season. However, in the last 4 games we’ve run the ball 28, 25, 23, and 17 times respectively. In each game we’ve run less, and each game has been harder to win as well. I sense a connection there.
2) A thousand cuts:MLB Deion Jones is Atlanta’s leading tackler and best cover LB. He’s also undersized (222 lbs.), and they only carry 3 DT’s. Because of that, I’d hammer Atlanta with the run and keep Jones in the box and out of coverage. Since their OLBs are poor in coverage, I rip them up outside the numbers with high percentage passes to TE’s Zach Ertz and Trey Burton(not WR Nelson Agholor), to freeze Atlanta in their base defense. The idea being to deplete their edge pass rush, catch their CB’s peeking back at the flat, and physically exhaust their front seven. (Like in the Super Bowl.)
3) Alter the launch:Most of the time hitting a QB is effective for getting in his head. That trick doesn’t always work so well with (local product) Matt Ryan. What’s needed is to change his launch point and delivery. Atlanta’s (overrated) receivers don’t do a great job of adjusting for balls, and they are prone to mental lapses. For example:
Ryan cares about the small details more than his teammates do. Over the years that’s been abundantly clear. Lucky for us that makes him easy to frustrate. (Lord knows what resentments he harbors from his team’s practices.) While sacks are nice, beating the hell out of him won’t net us as much tactical advantage, as simply forcing him to move his feet, change his delivery, and make him feel like he’s all alone out there. Thus allowing us to corrupt their passing offense at the source.
4) Stay grounded:The Rams lost to the Falcons last week because they couldn’t keep a cool head under the pressure of the moment. At no point was that game out of hand, nor were the Rams hopelessly behind. But while Atlanta kept their (non-QB) run/pass ratio at 33 to 30, the Rams had a ratio of 16 to 45. What’s funny is that the Rams were having a much easier time running than the Falcons (7.2 ypc vs 3.2 ypc), but still it was the Falcons who stuck with it. Once more and with feeling: They stuck with it! They didn’t panic. They stayed balanced and grounded.
That’s what we need to do this week.
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:
Saturday’s forecast calls for a breezy 50 degrees, with showers. Rain is something that dome teams seldom handle well, and “breezy” takes on a different meaning when it whips through a stadium. Add on top of that, 66,000 (mostly Eagles fans), in full throat on whenever Atlanta’s offense is on the field. The cherry on top of that, will be DT Fletcher Cox, already pissed over the media’s perception of his team:
The Eagles will come out of the gate full of nervous energy, but the weather will help us offset any initial jitters. However, after the jitters wear off, the weather will still be there, the ground will still be wet, and with the Eagles being the better team, Atlanta will feel the game start to slide away from them.
The Falcons defense is athletic, just not athletic enough nor deep enough, to defend against a bevy of Eagles offensive weapons. On the flip-side, the Falcons only have a couple of weapons worth fearing on offense, and the Eagles have more than enough depth and skill-sets to compete, Even if wholesale adjustments need to be made. Few teams can boast that. Especially after so many injuries.
THE QUESTION that most Eagles fans have is: How will Nick Foles look out there? The answer is that Foles has been a very solid QB, when he plays for the Eagles. Especially when he plays at home.
Since 2013, Foles is 9 – 2 when starting at the Linc. His one regular season “loss” (note the sarcasm), was two weeks ago vs Dallas. His other loss, was in our 2013 playoff game vs the Saints. He completed 69.7% of his passes for 2 TD’s, with nary a pick or a fumble, in what ended up as a 24 – 26 loss.
I’m hardly worried about Foles. If you’re smart, you’ll stop worrying about him too. As back-ups go, we could scarcely be in better hands. If things around him operate efficiently, then he has the potential to be downright dangerous.
PLAYOFFS here we come! The only thing to work out now is how long our playoff ride will last. During the course of this game, the Injury Bug paid our team yet another unwelcome visit, and claimed our Quarterback. For how long, has yet to be confirmed.
EAGLES 43 – Rams 35
On the play before leaving the the game, QB Carson Wentz(23/41 – 56.0% – 291 – 4 – 1) hit WR Alshon Jeffrey(5 – 52 – 10.4 – 1) with a 2 yard scoring strike, which put us ahead of the Rams 31 – 28. WR Torrey Smith(6 – 100 – 16.7 – 0) only the second Eagles receiver this season to have a 100 yard day, had his best game as an Eagle so far. TE Trey Burton (5 – 71 -14.2 – 2) took up the slack for TE Zach Ertzwho was inactive with a concussion from last week.
Courtesy CBS Sports
OLB Nigel Bradham (6 – 0 – 0 – 1) may have failed to snag either of his two chances at an interception, but he did manage to cause one of our two turnovers with a forced fumble. The biggest forced fumble of the game however, belongs to DE Chris Long (2 – 1 – 0 – 1). His key strip/sack in the 4th quarter gave the Eagles good field position to notch the go-ahead field goal by K Jake Elliott(4/4x, 3/3f – 41L), who was perfect on the day. DE Brandon Graham (0 – 0 – 0 – 1) put the nail in the coffin with the interception of a lateral (recorded as a fumble recovery), which he returned for a 16 yard touchdown as regulation expired.
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) RUN. THE. BALL:Our play selection was 51 passes to 32 runs. Keep in mind that 4 of those runs were by a QB. The first half featured 23 passes and 13 runs, in a half that we spent most of the time leading. It is no wonder that Wentz was injured. If this is how we’re going to play now, we need to keepQB Nate Sudfeld warm. (NOT DONE)
2) Man Coverage underneath:It looked as if we spent more time in loose zone coverage to take away most of the easy, quick decisions as options. While it did help slow down the Rams passing somewhat, it led to us being gashed repeatedly by the run. If we see this team in the playoffs, we cannot approach them that way again. (NOT DONE)
3) Get some help:TE Brent Celek(1 – 5 – 5.0 – 1) did spend sometime lined-up alongside LT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and he did provide some chipping upon his releases. That was nice to finally see out there. In all truth, LG seemed to be more of a problem than LT did in this game. (DONE)
4) Use brute force:One of my favorite moments of this game was seeing DT Fletcher Cox(4 – 0 – 0 – 0) explode through the “A” gap and hit the Rams QB hard enough to knock his helmet off. Also, when the team went back to doing this in the 4th quarter, we were able to get the Rams off the field and rob their RB of a 100 yard day, by taking yardage away from him. Attacking the Rams “A” gaps is the real reason we were able to hang on and win this game. (DONE)
This week’s Four Things score is 2 out of 4, and 39 of 52 (75%) on the season. A score of 2 of 4 explains why we had a teeter-totter of a game. 50/50 going in, is 50/50 coming out. If we play like this next week, the giants may very well embarrass us.
On The Whole:
This is a conceptually sound Offense. It has clearly defined things that it asks a player to do, in a given role. That’s why no matter who goes down, someone else is able to step in and perform adequately. This is the epitome of Next Man Up. Rest assured, the Eagles are not a team in the sense that, our starting players are reliable. The Eagles are a team in the sense that, everybody on the roster is a starter waiting to relied on.
On Offense, we moved the ball pretty well all day. We scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters. Wentz even managed to throw a score with a bad knee, after having been injured while diving into the end zone, on a score called back due to penalty.
Regardless, even after Wentz went out and QB Nick Foles(6/10 – 60.0% – 42 – 0 – 0) came in, we still moved the ball and got a key first down when needed, on a 9 yard dart from Foles to WR Nelson Agholor(8 – 64 – 8.0 – 0). Eagles RB’s provided 114 yards on 28 carries for a solid 4.0 average. So Offense was hardly an issue.
Defense, on the other hand… For about ¾ of this game it seemed like the Eagles had completely forgotten how to tackle, stack blockers, or set an edge. To be totally honest, at some points, it looked like some our DB’s were making “business decisions” out there vs the run. (Don’t worry Ronald Darby, and Patrick Robinson, I won’t name any names.)
Seeing Wentz go down, seemed to snap the Defense out of the funk it’s been in for the last two weeks. Foles came in, the stakes were made clear, and our guys turned it on and went hunting.
ANY Eagles fan who’s angry over this game, is missing the point. This game didn’t end in a kneel down. There was no victory formation for Kansas City. Up until the second that final incompletion rested on the ground, the hearts of the Chiefs team, coaching staff, and fans, were solidly lodged in their throats. This is the game our team NEEDED.
Eagles 20 – Chief 27
The game came down to a Hail Mary by QB Carson Wentz(25/46 – 54.3 – 333 – 2 – 1). Wentz (get this) was also our leading rusher on the day (4 – 55 – 13.7 – 0). WR Alshon Jeffrey(7 – 92 – 13.1 – 1) scored his first touchdown as an Eagle, and TE Zach Ertz(5 – 97 – 19.4) chipped in with nearly 100 yards of his own. That included a 53 yard pass he caught off of a Chiefs player, in a play so bizarre the only thing missing was ‘Benny Hill’ theme music.
Our Defensive Line notched 4 sacks against Alex Smith(21/28 – 75% – 251 – 1 – 0), but failed to record a single turnover this week.
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) Slow the rush: My prescription was to use short passes to Ertz to force the OLB’s into coverage like we did with the Redskins last week. The Eagles used that tactic, but they used a different player, RB Darren Sproles(10 – 48 – 4.8 – 0/ 2 – 30 – 15.0 – 0) to achieve the desired result. Point is, the tactic worked pretty well. (Until later in the game, when we had to abandon it to play catch-up.) (DONE)
2) Tick, Tick, BOOM:Except on the quick routes to Sproles, it seemed like Wentz spent the day holding the ball entirely too long, while waiting for receivers to uncover. This is going to get him killed. Especially with LG Isaac Seumalo acting as an Uber for defensive linemen (he gave up 3 sacks to Chris Jones). (NOT DONE)
3) No front-side blitzes!: We kept the blitzes tucked out of Alex Smith’s sight and the results were a sack from the left by OLB Mychal Kendricks(2 – 1 – 0 – 0), and a soul-rattling shot from up the gut, by MLB Jordan “Cowboy Killer” Hicks(1 – 2 – 0 – 0). Despite his 75% completion percentage, we kept Smith from sitting in the pocket and from holding the ball long enough for deep routes to unfold. We kept him uncomfortable and settling for short and intermediate routes. (DONE)
4) ImPRESSive coverage: We came out playing with big cushions again, which is why Smith was able to connect on ¾ of his passes. That completion percentage is alarming, and we can’t reliably that to help us win games. We make it way too easy for QB’s to cheat our defense of well-earned sacks.(NOT DONE)
This weeks score is 2 out of 4. That brings our team to 4 of 8 for the year. We’re .500 at hitting our goals, and we’re .500 in the standings. See a pattern? We have to be better next week vs the giants. Otherwise we’ll lose at home to a laughingstock.
On The Whole:
Since being an Eagles fan almost automatically makes a person a fan of the ‘Rocky’ franchise, I’m going to take you back to a moment. Seriously. Don’t skip the video.
In this instance the entire NFL is Apollo, and the Eagles are Rocky. While Rocky didn’t win the first fight, he never stopped trying. He kept coming. He was relentless. It was his heart not his fists, which made it possible for him to eventually be a champion.
Did you see us vs the Chiefs? We never relented. We never hung our heads. Our team’s body language didn’t sag. Not after injury. Not after big plays. Not after being down by two touchdowns. We kept coming after them. We kept on fighting. We never gave up. We JUST. KEPT. COMING. That’s our heart. That’s why we’ll succeed in the long run.
I was proud of the way our guys played in that game. Even more so, I was proud of their demeanor after the shit start to hit the fan. Down 14 points with just 6 minutes and change left? Come on. Most young teams would have started phoning it in. But not this team. That onside kick recovery by TE Trey Burton (1 – 10 – 10.0 – 0)? That was pure desire. The tape will show him clearly out-hustling everyone else on the field. You can’t fake that. It’s either in you or it’s not.
Despite all my glowing rhetoric, we did however lose the game. That’s because in some areas we just aren’t good enough yet. (More on that later.) Due to this game and an opponent of this caliber, our coaching staff was gifted with enough clear indicators of what we must improve, before we meet up with Washington again, in what will be a pivotal Week 7 match-up. (Remember where you read that first!)
THIS was not a pretty win. Like last week, the Eagles broke the game open in the 3rd quarter, but unlike last week, the Defense played the entire game. This week it was the Offense who had trouble finding the stadium, as 20 of our 29 points didn’t come until after the half. K Caleb Sturgis(3/3 – 2/3) battling a leg ailment, missed an extra point that would have had the final score at 30 instead of 29.
On Offense we took a three field goal, 9 – 7 half-time lead into the locker room. Apparently someone made some adjustment somewhere, because our last three scores were all touchdowns. Two on the ground by RB Ryan Mathews (9 – 32 – 3.5 – 2 – 0), and one by TE Trey Burton (5 – 49 – 9.8 – 1), who finally broke his touchdown cherry. QB Carson Wentz(21/34 – 61.7% – 190 – 1 – 0) was an effective game manager, who’s numbers may have looked a little better if not for WR Jordan Matthews(6 – 71 – 11.8 – 0) losing a sure touchdown off of his fingertips.
Defensively we held the Bears to 64 yards rushing, on 18 attempts, for 3.6 yards per tote. We also harassed QB Jay Cutler(12/17 – 70.5% – 157 – 0 – 1) sacking him three times, picking him off, and getting a fumble from him; on the way to injuring and knocking him out of the game. If you’re counting, that’s two straight QB’s we forced off the field in just two weeks. Can you FEEL that?
Nigel Bradham kills a Bears drive
DE Brandon Graham got a sack in second straight game (4 – 1 – 0 – 0 ). OLB Nigel Bradham(1 – 0 – 1 – 0) killed a Bear’s drive with a leaping interception that he almost took back to the house. Also getting in on the turnovers was MLB Jordan Hicks(1 – 0 – 0 – 0) recovering a sack/fumble forced by rookie DT Destiny Vaeao(1 – 1 – 0 – 1), and CB Ron Brooks(5 – 0 – 0 – 0) recovering a fumble forced by DT Bennie Logan(1 – 0 – 0 – 1), whom I called out in this weeks Preview article. Between the forced fumble and the improved run play, I would say that Logan responded very well.
Hey, did you notice:
How easy it was to hear players cursing at each other out there. You could hear them yelling things like “That’s fuckin’ HOLDING!”
SOMEpeopledismiss our 33 – 23 win over the Colts, because a number of their starters didn’t play due to injury. It makes me wonder: Would they rather we’d have lost? This was a game for sending a message, and since 13 of the Colts 23 points came in the 4th quarter, this game was never as close as the final score indicates. This was a game for sending a message and our starters dominated theirs. We didn’t play down to the opponent. We handled business. As Keenan Ivory Wayans would say:
But what about the stuff that the final score doesn’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) RB Wendell Smallwood has to play more than a series. He sort of did, getting 3 touches before he was hit and taken out of the game, per concussion protocol. By and large he looked like a third version of RB’s we already have (Kenjon Barner, Byron Marshall, and himself). What he didn’t look like was a guy who could step in for Ryan Mathews. Especially if he’s going to be less durable than Mathews. We need a veteran here.
2) A starting receiver catching at least 3 balls for 40 yards. This didn’t happen, but it’s hard to write it off as a bad thing. In fact, what we got might be better than what I asked for. WRJosh Huff had 2 grabs for 60 yards, and both TE’s Trey Burton and Zach Ertz, (neither of whom started but both were in the game early) had 5 catches each for 35 and 25 yards respectively. Burton scored on a 3 yard pass.
3) The deep ball must make a few appearances. This flat out didn’t happen and I think this will haunt us early in the season. Thinking that spreading out a defense is the same as unloading the box, is what caused the Offense to cave in after we lost DeSean Jackson. Right now we’re back to being a team that doesn’t legitimately scare anyone vertically. The plan is that Dorian Green-Beckham will add that dimension, but so far that looks like a miscalculation.
4) Andrew Luck must be sacked early. We all kinds of did this! He was sacked, hit, hurried and harassed on almost every dropback. It was a thing of beauty. The ball was at times thrown too early, hit the dirt… He was 13 of 18 but that’s not at all how it looked in the game or on the scoreboard.
This week was a mixed bag, but I’ll call it 2 out of 4. We did #4 clearly. We did #1 technically, but not well enough to say that it counts. We didn’t do #2 statistically, but again, what we did got in it’s place is at least as good and more likely, better. We didn’t do #3 AT ALL, and it will be a problem when teams start to game plan for us. For those keeping score, that brings us to 7 of 12 for these three weeks.
As far as sending a message to the other 31 teams, this was the first glimpse of what the team will be, or what the team is trying to be, under Head Coach Doug Pederson. We were tough, methodical, and quietly efficient. Even when we had trouble, no one lost composure and we were in control the entire time. To quote the Stone Temple Pilots, “I got the message and the message stood…” If the rest of the NFL has not yet gotten the message, don’t worry, Keenan. They will.
ALL the crying about the Eagles Offense will now be put on hold for at least two more weeks. Last night the Eagles tossed 33 points on the scoreboard. Only 6 of which came from FG’s, and 6 more from the Reserves. That means 21 points (1 rushing TD and 2 receiving) came from the starting Offensive unit, in 3 quarters of football.
Offensively the Eagles looked in control and composed despite some early miscues, including an interception caused by WR Nelson Agholor(0 – 0 – 0.0 – 0) bobbling a pass (that hit him in his hands). QB Sam Bradford (17 – 20 – 167 – 2 – 1) looked extremely comfortable out there.
Bradford drew blood in the second quarter with an uncontested, 4 yard, jump-ball to new Eagle WR Dorian Green-Beckham(2 – 15 – 7.5 – 1). Bradford wounded the Colts again, on a 3 yard, walk-in pass, to TE Trey Burton (5 – 35 – 7.0 – 1) in the third quarter. RB Ryan Mathews (3 – 31 – 10.3 – 0 – 0) looked ready for the season to start, but again only had three touches.
WR Josh Huff(2 – 60 – 30.0 – 0 / 2 – 10 – 5.0 – 1 – 0) once again flashed the play-making ability that frustrates so many fans. He scored the first TD of the game on a 9 yard run (jet-sweep), and helped set up another score with a 38 yard catch and run over the middle of the Colts defense. Already a dangerous KR, the Eagles are still trying to identify a role for Huff, who is more like a RB than WR, but not quite a RB either.
Defensively, there was never a doubt about who was in control of this game. The stats don’t accurately tell the story of how much duress QB Andrew Luck (13 – 18 – 134 – 0 – 0) spent the night under, and just how dominant we were yet again.
Once again the Eagles shut down the run, allowing the Colts all of 39 yards on 18 attempts (2.2 yards per crack). The Defensive Line collected 3 sacks (all on Luck), and CB Nolan Carroll (1 – 0 – 1 – 0) killed a drive by picking off an intended touchdown pass, in the end zone.
Last week I said one of the big stories of that game were the 12 penalties for 96 yards. This week the Eagles committed 8 for 64 yards. This is still a high number, but it shows improvement. Next week will be bubble players trying hard to impress. Expect a messy game.
He scored the first TD of the game on a 9 yard run (jet-sweep), and helped set up another score with a 38 yard catch and run over the middle of the Colts defense. Already a dangerous KR, the Eagles are still trying to identify a role for Huff, who is more like a RB than WR, but not quite a RB either.
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