While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

CATCHES across our middle need to come with a high price-tag. Opposing players need to understand that Crosses, Drags, Slants, Deep-Ins, etc, all mean pain and possible trips to the blue tent. I’m not saying we should deliberately injure opponents. I’m saying that diving into the middle of our shark tank, should naturally result in bites.

While I wrote this key well before the Draft this year, I’m glad to see that our new Defensive Co-ordinator Sean Desai, believes in this, as well. He’s telling the players that he wants them to be violent. This was echoed by S Reed Blankenship “…We want to be violent, and so that’s our top goal right now.” 

Some fans may hate to see me and an Eagles coach advocating for more violence, but violence is the foundation that American football is built on. Anyone who thinks it’s the excitement of throwing the ball, please explain the Pro Bowl’s declining ratings over the last decade. This year’s Flag Football edition drew 6.28 million viewers. According to the NFL, in 2022 average viewership for a game, was 18.5 million. 

Proving that most Football fans aren’t interested in a glorified game of catch.

Though many are trying to legislate the violence out of the sport, they’ll never actually manage it. What they’ll do instead, is succeed in killing the NFL, while elevating some other league, that will give football fans the vicious hits, and crushing blocks that we crave. After all, every football league throws long passes. But not all of them hit.

Our DC wants us to hit.

When it comes to defense I’m not a fan of (BBDB) “bend but don’t break” concepts. That’s the practice of allowing teams to move the ball, then tightening up in the red zone. Remember how frustrating that was under Jonathan Gannon? And Jim Schwartz with those big cushions that allowed so many easy completions? And Bill Davis? And Juan Castillo? And Sean McDermott?

I’m more a fan of the Buddy Ryan/Bud Carson philosophy of defending every blade of grass on the field. When offensive players know that every footstep has a price, they tread a little lighter. They’re less brave about where they go.

(NOTE: Jim Johnson was a hybrid of BBDB and every blade, which is why he tinkered constantly throughout games. Jim Johnson “not making adjustments” never happened, he was the anti-Gannon.)

Against Buddy, a receiver running a Dig route had to catch a ball with his back to either Wes Hopkins or Andre Waters. He had to focus on securing the ball while hearing those footsteps thudding against Vet Stadium’s knee-eating turf, getting faster and closer. As a result, the Eagles Defense garnered many incompletions, interceptions, and forced fumbles.

The 1990 Eagles had the Body Bag game, where NINE Redskins were knocked out of the game. The 1991 Eagles Defense gave up 150.8 passing yards per game, much of it predicated on fear. Because of 1990, our 1991 opponents knew, the middle was just somewhere you didn’t wander. The price tags were astronomical in that neighborhood.

Desai went on to say “Our philosophy is we’ve got to impact them physically and mentally. One of them is not going to be good enough. We need both, and we both on every single play”. No bend or break here, folks!

So let’s get that no-fly zone going across the middle.