My mistake on the Washington schedule.  Their final game was @Dallas, not @Atanta.   Whoops.  So, that first leg was a little longer than the others, but the more recent road trips have been relatively short.   That said, 4 straight road games is tough.  Can't bank on that mattering, but its something to note.  

 

The ELGSES need to handle their business and put them away on their own.  That can't hope for Washington having a let down, or to just be happy that they are there.   The longer they stick around, the harder beating them will become.

21 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I'm guessing his "on field" aggressiveness level - specifically blocking, maybe?

 

Because other than blocking, Calcaterra has exceeded most expectations when his number is called, imo.

All of the above.  It is worth watching their assessment of him, which comes at the 41 minute mark of this YouTube 

 

Another factor to consider is the Redskins really started to have their success on offense after CJGJ was rejected.  We will have CJGJ for this game.

 

 

Also I felt like during the game that the defense just wasn't really all that focused going into the game and during.  They never took the Redskins all that seriously but that should be different heading into this one.

 

I do wonder if we will try to use a spy this game for Daniels since the use of his legs in the second game was a big difference from the first.

1 minute ago, Waiting4Someday said:

I don't think it was ToP issue, as I remember one FG drive going for 8 minutes and others for 5 and 3.  Obviously, the problem was that our offense wasn't converting their extra possessions granted by TOs into TDs.  Meanwhile, the WAS offense while either committing TOs or getting TDs relatively quickly.  I can't remember exactly, but my guess is that WAS tried to stay in hurry up and exhaust our 3-man DE/DT rotations.  

Putting aside the issues of Hurts' concussion and CJGJ being ejected for saying mean things, the loss was really a function of 2 things -- the Eagles failure to score TDs instead of FGs in the 2nd half, and the Commanders hitting big plays against a defense that almost never gets beat for explosive plays. Washington's 1st TD came right after Pickett's INT on a short field. Their 2nd TD was a 96 yard drive where 2 plays covered 83 yards -- the 1st play of the drive was a 51 yarded to Dyami Brown on Slay, and the TD was a 32 yarded to McLaurin on Q; the other 6 plays covered 13 yards (2.2 average). So it's 21-14 at halftime, and then we have 2 long drives in the 3rd quarter that both stall and end in FGs -- we blow a 3rd and 3 at the Washington 4 with the wildcat play to Barkley that loses 2 yards, and then Pickett gets sacked on 3rd and 8 from the 11. So 2 drives inside the 15 yard line, 11:30 minutes off the game clock and only 6 points. 

The next Washington drive was the first without GJGJ, and it is kept alive by a Daniels 29 yard scramble on 4th and 11 and ends with a short TD throw. The next Washington TD drive ends with the 49 yard TD because the defense was confused (Slay out/in, Ringo in, 12 men on the field) to give them a 28-27 lead. After we kick a FG (Jake hits a 50 yarded), we get the INT that should have ended the game from Reed. But we run 3 plays, the last of which is Smitty's drop, and settle for ANOTHER short FG. And Daniels ends it with a TD drive.

So, really the issue on defense was very uncharacteristically giving up big plays. 2 big passing plays on their 2nd TD drive, one on Slay and one on Q. Giving up a 4th and 11 on a QB scramble. Giving up a huge TD on a blown coverage. We haven't done that ALL YEAR, but it happened multiple times in this game. Stafford hit some down field shots on us, but they were great/risky throws (Rodgers near pick, Rodgers on Kupp that should have been batted down, Coop neat pick, Slay on last drive with mistimed jump). So long as the defense goes back to keeping everything in front of them and avoids the chunk plays, we should be OK.

2 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Another factor to consider is the Redskins really started to have their success on offense after CJGJ was rejected.  We will have CJGJ for this game.

 

 

Also I felt like during the game that the defense just wasn't really all that focused going into the game and during.  They never took the Redskins all that seriously but that should be different heading into this one.

Yes.  Revenge factor.  Eagles should be locked in.  And am sure they want a piece of the Chiefs too if they win.

25 minutes ago, just relax said:

Yes, that's the way I see it too.

Revisiting the second game, I note that we completely stoned their running game, except for Daniels. Fifteen carries for 32 yards. Nine for 81 from Daniels, mostly on scrambles.

I expect we'll play a lot of zone. I do not expect us to use a spy against Daniels but I do think we'll do a lot of hard rush by three DL and one guy playing soft, not quite spying but reading and covering any gap that opens up between DT and DE. Or showing a five-man front and dropping a guy out. We'll look to isolate Carter on their RG and they'll look to help him out; that alone should be fascinating. Definitely going with two high safeties and Washington will try to pop a run or two early to get us out of that. Washington will try to spread us out and attack the light box, run RPOs at Baun, wide receiver screens to Zaccheus and McLaurin, especially if Rogers is in at LCB.

I have a similar pass rush take. Consistently rush four with the two Edges focusing on contain, especially on the gap between themselves and the DT on their side, and the two DTs putting heavy duty pressure on the pocket, collapsing it from front to back, squeezing Daniels and having the Edges positioned to cut off his avenues of escape.

1 hour ago, Freshmilk said:

This week, but not always.  One of  Smith's sacks on Love was a hard inside move with no coordination with the DTs.  This week Smith and Sweat have to stay disciplined and let Carter, Williams, Omojo work the middle and flush Daneil to them.

Any time Smith is taking an inside track I am guessing he's coordinating with the DT.  I agree with the pass rush maintaining discipline  and not getting beyond the qb.  I don't think stunts and twists up front should be abandoned.  A simple pass rush approach just makes it too easy for the protection calls and that can make it easier for Daniels to make plays with his legs too. They also need to keep someone with eyes on Daniels.    

 

2 hours ago, DaBirds said:

I think people would be surprised how little time the players spend with the coordinators and head coach. They spend most of their time with position coaches and assistants. They get the schemes from up top but the underlings implement it normally. 

Well Stoutland is the run game coordinator.  He spends a lot of time with the offensive line.  

13 minutes ago, mattwill said:

The NFL’s reporting of the snaps/plays is interesting.  The game summary totals show your 71 and 64 numbers, but the Gamebook shows 74 and 68.

 

I'm guessing the penalties that result in no play are included in snaps but excluded from the game summary. 

21 minutes ago, NYEagle said:

This is just f'ing silly nonsense....stay with me on this.  So, by Hurts going out, the Redskins totally sold out to stop the running game.  This caused Eagles offense to have short drives and 3 and outs.  This caused the Eagles Defense to be on the field for like all the 2nd half which helped the Redskins have chuck plays.  But also, with defensive fatigue, you had CJGJ out which absolutely hurt them and was directly responsible for that breakdown on the Zaccheaus TD.

The direct correlation of Hurts playing isn't that he plays defense....with Hurts/Barkley and the offense, the Eagles dominate teams time of possession, keeping our defense off the field.  When our defense is off the field, the opposing team cannot get chuck plays or score points right?  When our defense is off the field they are staying rested right?  

And seeing as they scored with a minute left in the game, I'm not sure how the Redskins easily could have hung 50 on us unless there was an immediate turnover after kickoff and Washington gets the unusual 14 point play!

All of the second half? Try less than 10 minutes.

And the Eagles did dominate TOP - by more than 10 minutes in the second half and more than 8 minutes for the game. The defense should not be gassed when they watch so much from the sidelines.

How could they have hung 50 on us? Well, let's start with their fumble on our 10-yard line. Then there were four other turnovers, (two INTs and two fumbles) three near midfield, and a failed fourth down attempt at midfield that pretty much counts as a turnover

 

11 minutes ago, DrPhilly said:

…and it’s more than that. After the Rams game we’ve gone 9 straight without flying anywhere. 

That feels antithetic to the whole "Fly Eagles Fly" theme.

1 hour ago, NOTW said:

My goodness with this guy! It’s always the team the team the team. When’s he gonna behave like a selfish diva like any other normal receiver???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Putting aside the issues of Hurts' concussion and CJGJ being ejected for saying mean things, the loss was really a function of 2 things -- the Eagles failure to score TDs instead of FGs in the 2nd half, and the Commanders hitting big plays against a defense that almost never gets beat for explosive plays. Washington's 1st TD came right after Pickett's INT on a short field. Their 2nd TD was a 96 yard drive where 2 plays covered 83 yards -- the 1st play of the drive was a 51 yarded to Dyami Brown on Slay, and the TD was a 32 yarded to McLaurin on Q; the other 6 plays covered 13 yards (2.2 average). So it's 21-14 at halftime, and then we have 2 long drives in the 3rd quarter that both stall and end in FGs -- we blow a 3rd and 3 at the Washington 4 with the wildcat play to Barkley that loses 2 yards, and then Pickett gets sacked on 3rd and 8 from the 11. So 2 drives inside the 15 yard line, 11:30 minutes off the game clock and only 6 points. 

The next Washington drive was the first without GJGJ, and it is kept alive by a Daniels 29 yard scramble on 4th and 11 and ends with a short TD throw. The next Washington TD drive ends with the 49 yard TD because the defense was confused (Slay out/in, Ringo in, 12 men on the field) to give them a 28-27 lead. After we kick a FG (Jake hits a 50 yarded), we get the INT that should have ended the game from Reed. But we run 3 plays, the last of which is Smitty's drop, and settle for ANOTHER short FG. And Daniels ends it with a TD drive.

So, really the issue on defense was very uncharacteristically giving up big plays. 2 big passing plays on their 2nd TD drive, one on Slay and one on Q. Giving up a 4th and 11 on a QB scramble. Giving up a huge TD on a blown coverage. We haven't done that ALL YEAR, but it happened multiple times in this game. Stafford hit some down field shots on us, but they were great/risky throws (Rodgers near pick, Rodgers on Kupp that should have been batted down, Coop neat pick, Slay on last drive with mistimed jump). So long as the defense goes back to keeping everything in front of them and avoids the chunk plays, we should be OK.

Yep. That's the game I saw too.

3 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

My mistake on the Washington schedule.  Their final game was @Dallas, not @Atanta.   Whoops.  So, that first leg was a little longer than the others, but the more recent road trips have been relatively short.   That said, 4 straight road games is tough.  Can't bank on that mattering, but its something to note.  

 

The ELGSES need to handle their business and put them away on their own.  That can't hope for Washington having a let down, or to just be happy that they are there.   The longer they stick around, the harder beating them will become.

Meh, not a huge difference - Washington to Dallas is about 3 hours in the air - given they charter the flights, I doubt they take long to reach their gates, taxing etc - so still not an overly  "tiresome" flight. 

 

But like I said, the impressive part is Daniels' ability to overcome hostile playoff atmospheres as a rookie QB.  2 in a row (3rd straight road win) is impressive in itself. 

 

That said, I don't think he's seen anything like what he's about to experience at the Linc on Sunday.  The Linc gets louder and louder with every critical game throughout the season - louder with each playoff game and is the loudest during the  NFCCG.  The energy level there should be unparalleled come Sunday - even to the point that our offense might be trying to quiet the crowd down during offensive drives. 

26 minutes ago, NYEagle said:

This is just f'ing silly nonsense....stay with me on this.  So, by Hurts going out, the Redskins totally sold out to stop the running game.  This caused Eagles offense to have short drives and 3 and outs.  This caused the Eagles Defense to be on the field for like all the 2nd half which helped the Redskins have chuck plays.  But also, with defensive fatigue, you had CJGJ out which absolutely hurt them and was directly responsible for that breakdown on the Zaccheaus TD.

The direct correlation of Hurts playing isn't that he plays defense....with Hurts/Barkley and the offense, the Eagles dominate teams time of possession, keeping our defense off the field.  When our defense is off the field, the opposing team cannot get chuck plays or score points right?  When our defense is off the field they are staying rested right?  

And seeing as they scored with a minute left in the game, I'm not sure how the Redskins easily could have hung 50 on us unless there was an immediate turnover after kickoff and Washington gets the unusual 14 point play!

TOP is a somewhat misleading stat depending on the mix of running plays and passing plays.  25 running plays consume much more TOP than 25 passing plays.

Please live forever Jerry

 

10 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

Like I said in my previous post, the issue was the inability to get into the end zone, despite great field position for the offense in the 2nd half.  They didn't have many "3 and outs" but couldn't get into the end zone.  If I remember correctly, they had a few drives killed by penalties and a few others where they just couldn't convert on crucial downs deep in Washington's territory. 

Yea, I don't disagree with that. They also were just milking the clock at points being up. The point remains they controlled the clock, they just didn't make the most out of their opportunities either. 

1 minute ago, just relax said:

Yep. That's the game I saw too.

It was just such a weird game to watch because it felt like we were in control but the defense just giving up chunk plays. The whole point of the Fangio scheme is to not give up big plays, but the defense seemingly lost all discipline in the 4th quarter and became all boom or bust -- either get a turnover or get burned. The 4th and 11 conversion by Daniels is when my heart sank and I thought we were going to lose. IIRC we had pressure on him on that play but he escaped to convert. 

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

Forget what year it was, but Brandon Brooks was a big addition.

2016 I believe. 

3 minutes ago, just relax said:

All of the second half? Try less than 10 minutes.

And the Eagles did dominate TOP - by more than 10 minutes in the second half and more than 8 minutes for the game. The defense should not be gassed when they watch so much from the sidelines.

How could they have hung 50 on us? Well, let's start with their fumble on our 10-yard line. Then there were four other turnovers, (two INTs and two fumbles) three near midfield, and a failed fourth down attempt at midfield that pretty much counts as a turnover

 

I understand your points.  Daniels was a problem that day (and other days against other teams).  I do, however, have faith in 2 things for this game:  1) Fangio will have something up his sleeve, and 2) for as good as Daniels has played, this a road Championship game and he is a rookie.  I expect a couple rookie moments from him in this one

Andy's legacy of investing in the OL lives on.

Been saying this for years

 

22 minutes ago, devpool said:

Saquon is too masculine, should've gone for Saquonda.

 

Congrats!!

 

17 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Another factor to consider is the Redskins really started to have their success on offense after CJGJ was rejected.  We will have CJGJ for this game.

Also I felt like during the game that the defense just wasn't really all that focused going into the game and during.  They never took the Redskins all that seriously but that should be different heading into this one.

I do wonder if we will try to use a spy this game for Daniels since the use of his legs in the second game was a big difference from the first.

I think Fangio would have been more inclined to spy with Dean, but less so with Burks.

28 minutes ago, McMVP said:

I understand your points.  Daniels was a problem that day (and other days against other teams).  I do, however, have faith in 2 things for this game:  1) Fangio will have something up his sleeve, and 2) for as good as Daniels has played, this a road Championship game and he is a rookie.  I expect a couple rookie moments from him in this one

Yep.  I'm pretty sure Fangio will have a spy on Daniels - at least during certain looks, etc.  If we already have their running game contained, it should be easy to allow a LB or DB to spy Daniels.  Then it would be up to our D-Line to create enough pressure to force Daniels to throw vs run - and if he still decides to run, the spy should be able to contain him for short gains and so forth. Our secondary will need to play their A game - remove Daniels 1st and 2nd progressions - force him to look to his 3rd, etc - giving the D line 2-3 seconds to get to him, etc.  

 

16 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I'm guessing the penalties that result in no play are included in snaps but excluded from the game summary. 

Agreed