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The Good, the bad and the ugly: week 4 at 49ERS


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The Good:

1. Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers—It had really gotten ugly for the Eagles defense this year as they had forced 0 turnovers heading into the week four matchup with the Niners. Our special teams unit had created more turnovers than our defense the first three weeks. It is really hard to win in this league when the defense is coming up with nothing in that department. On Sunday night, the defense showed up big in the turnover department. The first turnover came with the Eagles up by a point, 8-7, the Niners had moved the ball into the red zone. This has also been an area where the Eagles have struggled on the year. Fortunately, Mullens threw a pass to Taylor, but McLeod was able to pick off and return it 21 yards to the 27-yard line. It was a pretty big momentum boost to the Eagles. The Niners and Mullen looked to be getting into a rhythm before the end of the first half. 63 yards on just 6 plays. McLeod’s pick was the first interception by an Eagles since the end of the regular season where Sidney Jones intercepted a Daniel Jones pass. The second turnover the Eagles defense was able to create was a strip sack by LeBlanc. He came in on a blitz and I don’t even think he swiped at the ball, but his helmet knocked the ball loose and Malik Jackson was able to fall on it giving the Eagles excellent field position inside 49ers territory at the 42. The excellent field position allowed for the biggest offensive play fo the game which was an absolute dime from Carson Wentz to Fulgham for a 42-yard go-head touchdown to make the game 18-14. Finally, the turnover that ended the night for Mullens and the Niners was right after the Fulgham touchdown reception. Mullens dropped back and just fired it straight to Singleton. I don’t think Singleton did anything special, it was just an absolutely awful throw by Mullens. Singleton was  able to scamper 30-yards down the sideline for the touchdown to give the Eagles a 25-14 lead, which they were able to hang onto to win the game. Besides the relentless pressure by the Eagles front four, the story of this game was the turnovers. The Eagles turnovers created 14 points off offense and kept at least 3 if not 7 points off the board for the niners. I do think next week is going to be a much tougher task as they face a better QB in Big Ben and as great as Kittle is, and as promising as Deebo/Aiyuk are the Steelers are much more dynamic on offense. But hopefully the Eagles start generating more turnovers and get some confidence. 

2. The much maligned Avery, Barnett and Sweat—For most of the year, Barnett has been a point of ire with Eagles fans. Most have complained about he cannot stay healthy as he missed time during training camp and to start the regular season. Heck even when he played, he would commit a bad penalty like an untimely offsides or usually just get sacks against backups or tight ends. However, Barnett balled out tonight. That might have been his best game I can remember since his second year in the league against the Giants. On the night he was able to consistently beat Trent Williams. While Williams isn’t what he once was, I feel like he is still a good LT in this league. This has to be a nice boost of confidence for Barnett. He was able to record a half a sack and 2 QB hits. Over the last two games, Barnett has recorded 2.5 sacks, 4 Qb hits and 2 TFL. This is something the Eagles needed to see. The future at defensive end has looked rather bleak with him underperforming and Graham aging. While Sweat has looked good, I am not sure his best role is as a starting DE. I love his athleticism and size, but I am not sure his knee will allow him to consistently play starter type of snaps. However, the biggest surprise of the night defensively imo might have been Avery. A lot of us probably forgot he was even on the team except for the fact we would ridicule Howie for giving up a 4th rounder for a guy who wasn’t able to get on the field consistently. It felt like Avery was in the backfield all night and giving Mullens fits. Against the Niners, Avery was able to recorded a sack, TFL and 5 QB hits. That is amazing pressure for a guy who was afterthought by most fans heading into this game.  Finally, I thought Sweat has continued to look like the real deal this year. I have always loved his size and length along with his athleticism. You can see why he was highly recruited before his knee issues. He is really starting to become a very reliable pass rusher. In this game, he registered a sack, tfl and a QB hit. For the season, Sweat has 3 sacks, 4 TFL and 5 QB hits. Now, I do not think Avery is going to be able to do this consistently, but if he can give you some of those pressures going forward then you really have to like the depth at DE. Sweat and Avery are quality backups if they play like they did tonight and for Sweat so far this year.  

3. Box score doesn’t say it all at DT—I thought the defensive tackles were absolutely dominating in this game. The box score is only going to show 1.5 sacks, but I thought Cox played really well. It wasn’t as great as the Cincinnati game, but it was close. It has been a while since we have seen Cox play back-to-back games at a really high level. I think it is beginning to show that having help inside from Malik, Ridgeway and Hargrave is going to pay off and reward the Eagles. He might be fresher as the season goes on for it. Additionally, I liked that Schwartz also decided to move Cox out to DE for a couple plays late in the game. It is something we haven’t seen him do much of, but it reminded me a lot of how the Rams move Donald all over the line to exploit some weaknesses they might see. His box score is ugly, but make no mistake I thought Cox had a big impact on this game and opened some things up for his teammates.  As for Hargrave, this was definitely his best game so far as an Eagle. I thought he consistently won the line of scrimmage. He was able to penetrate. He was able to record a .5 sack and a Qb hit. However, I thought the best defensive tackle of the night was Malik Jackson. I give him credit coming off his lis franc injury I would argue he has been our best pass rusher on the season. It feels as though he is always creating pressure up the gut. While he didn’t record a sack on the night, he was able to create 2 QB hits. Finally, Ridgeway was also able to get in on the fun as he recorded a sack, tackle for loss and QB. The DT unit was able to sack Mullens 1.5 and hit him 4 times. This unit has the biggest challenge they have face so far this year going into Pittsburgh next week. They are going to face the best offensive line they have seen so far this season. Plus they basically had a week off to rest up. I am curious to see if the Eagles DL can continue the trend of the last two weeks where they just whipped up on the Niners and Bengals olines. 

4. What the Fulgham you talking about—Yes, Travis Fulgham who was not even on the Eagles active roster until Saturday had one of the biggest offensive plays of the Eagles season. Journey back in time, Fulgham wasn’t even with the Eagles all of training camp. He was picked up off waivers on August 20. He was put on practice squad on September 6. This was his first game in an Eagles uniform and he made arguably to that point, the biggest play of the Eagles season. The Eagles were on the fringe of field goal range at the 42-yard line facing a 2nd and 18. Most of us were just hoping to pick up enough yards to kick a game tying field goal and hope the defense could make a play. But Carson throws an absolute dime to Fulgham, who looked like for a second he lost thet ball, but managed to hold onto the ball and rumble his way and avoid going out of bounds for the touchdown. It was a huge play for the Eagles. It was their longest touchdown of the season. I feel like the throw and catch is something that might give the Eagles a spark going forward. I know his stat line was just 2 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, but that is a catch we’ve another no. 13 in Eagles green fail to make. He might not be around for long, but he might have made the play that saved the Eagles season. I still would much rather have him out there than JJAW. 

5. Unsung hero part II— Entering the night, Singleton had played only 11 career snaps on defense. He was more of a special teams guy and occasionally used at the LB position. In the CFL, Singleton was really good. However that is the CFL and not the NFL, but Singleton was in the right spot at the right time. Mullens basically threw the ball to him, but he did what he was supposed to do. He caught it. And let me tell you that doesn’t always happen with Eagles LBs. I have watched Bradham drop many interceptions over the last couple years. Singleton pulled it in and took it to the house. Amazing that he was only in the game because Edwards left the game with a hammy issue. Frankly, I would like to see more of Singleton. I do not think he is anything special, but if he can just be average in coverage then the Eagles have found an upgrade to Gerry. Unfortunately, I think he is just a JAG, but he deserves credit tonight for delivering when given the opportunity. 

 6. Hats off to Jordan Mailata—Do I think Mailata was perfect in this game? No. He still had some struggles with speed rushers and some communication issues with Herbig, which I do think with time will come along. I would also like to see him be more dominant in the run game at his size and athleticism. But if you would have told me when we drafted him a few years ago that he would start his first game in the NFL in his third year in the league without ever playing football before being draft and play like he did I would’ve been shocked. He was good. He looked much better than Jason Peters did for most of this season. I think you hope that he can build off this performance and it gives him confidence. At this point, I do not think it makes sense to go back with Peters when he is healthy. Mailata is going to have growing pains, but his talent, size and athleticism is just more than what Peters offers you at this stage of his career. I am willing to see the ups and downs with Mailata to see if he can continue to build off it going forward. Like the DL has a huge task next week, I think he is going to face one of the best pass rushers and defenses in the league. I am curious to see how he, Herbig and Pryor deal with a 3-4 defense of the Steelers and that pass rush. 

 7. Kelce deserves love—I understand that Kelce had two poor snaps today, but considering at one point in this game we were down 4 of our starting offensive linemen and Kelce was the only starter out there. I do not think this was his best game as he had some questionable snaps and some struggles in run blocking, but I give Kelce a ton of credit. He seems to be the only starting offensive lineman that plays every single game for the Eagles anymore. Lane, Brooks, Seumalo (not so much before this year), Dillard/Peters have all missed games over the last 3 years. Meanwhile, Kelce is there week in and week out. And he has been doing it at a really high level over the last 4 season. He is clearly going to make it into the Eagles’ Hall of Fame, but if he continues to play over the next 3 years and plays at close to this level I would think he is going to be at least considered for the Profootball Hall of Fame when his career is over. I just think we should appreciate just how good and reliable Kelce has been. 

 8. Creativity on offense—For the first time in a really long time, I thought the Eagles were creative on offense. They were using motion way more than we have in the past couple weeks. We were rolling out Wentz and dialing up some fantastic runs for him. Additionally, we had end arounds, some packages for Hurts and even Wentz as the intended receiver on a play that failed to work. While a lot of those plays failed to work, I was still encouraged that this team has finally began to incorporate more creativeness into the offense. Frankly I have hated the excuses well the injuries have prevented them from doing so. I think that is bogus, I just think this team has failed to implement them into the game play. They aren’t always going to work, but if you do not even put them in there then you’ll never know or connect on one. 

 9. Wentz starting to turn it around?— This was not the best game of Carson’s career. It really wasn’t even close to his best. His interception in the first quarter wasn’t entirely his fault, but it felt like what could go wrong was going to for him. But he didn’t fret or get down on himself. He just continued to play within himself and made plays when he needed too. The thing that I really have liked the most over the last two weeks with Wentz, is that the Eagles are beginning to implement him running the ball more. It has felt like it has been awhile since we have seen Carson have designed runs or have the confidence to take off and run, making plays with his legs. Over the last two weeks, Wentz has rushed the ball 16 times for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the first two weeks of the season, he only had 3 rushing attempts total. Not only is he rushing the ball more, but I think it is giving him more confidence to make some of the plays we saw back in 2017. His line is really a makeshift line, he is missing weapons all over the place, we continuously stop utilizing Sanders, but he is avoiding sacks where he is dead to rights and magically converts a play. His pass to Boston Scott might not have ultimately counted in the statbook, but that was vintage Wentz. Furthermore, I know we have all crushed and been down on Wentz. Romanticized about Foles and the glorious SB run lately, but Wentz with a depleted roster made his biggest plays in the games biggest moments tonight.  He used his legs to keep plays alive and escape clear sacks. He used his arm to deliver a victory. His pass to Fulgham was an absolute dime to a guy who last week was on the practice squad. You could not ask for a better throw from your QB. I do not know if this is where Wentz turns it around. Frankly his next two opponents are probably the two best defenses we are likely to face the rest of the season. He very well could revert back to the first three weeks of the season, but it was good to see him fight off early struggles and come up big in the clutch. While his stats say 18-28, 193 yards, 1 passing td, 1 rushing td and an Int, I am hoping this is where he begins to go on a run and puts this team on his shoulders. 

 10. Doug early in the game—I thought Doug did what I would have done early in the game. He got the ball into Sanders hands to start the night and tried to ease Wentz into the game and lean on his running game. Unfortunately, I think that plan got away from Doug as the game continued and will talk about that a little later. That said, I also loved the fact he overcorrected and went for the 2 point conversion. I do not think this was a coincidence that he decided to go for 2 points that early in the game. I think he was sending a message to his team that he has confidence in them and he was going to show him. I thought he called a terrific play and it completely fooled and caught the Niners off guard. Additionally, I thought the Eagles first touchdown drive was a thing of poetry. Some of the plays didn’t work like the duck Wentz threw to Dick Rod, but the play design and call was spectacular. The niners seemed to be on their toes that entire series and he was one step ahead of the niners defense. It was the first time in a really long time this season where I felt the offense was playing chess and the defense was playing checkers.  

 11. Penalties—This was a vast improvement from what we saw last week where Pryor’s bad penalty cost the Eagles a potential game winning FG. This week the Eagles managed to only commit 3 penalties for 25 yards. Really the outlier game on the season is the Eagles/Bengals game. In that game, the Eagles committed 11 penalties for 93 yards. In their other three contests they had 11 penalties combined for 75 yards. 

 12. Slay and Mills at corner—Early in the week, something I wanted to see the Eagles do is move Mills from safety back to corner. I thought he was the only one on the roster that was good enough to be playing on the outside. Maddox when healthy had been rather lousy and I didn’t think NRC or Leblanc were best suited to be on the outside. Yes that required moving Epps or Wallace into the starting role, but I thought it was best to have Slay and Mills on the outside. I thought Mills played well for most of the night. He was not perfect, but he gave the Eagles better corner play on the outside then what we had been getting from Maddox. Now he is going to face much stiffer competition next week with Big Ben throwing to Johnson, Juju, Washington and Claypool, but at this point I am much more comfortable with him on the outside then anyone else not named Slay. As for slay, I thought he was great out there again. He is playing at an extremely high level. I would love for him to get some picks, but I think teams are shying away from him and he is rarely out of position. It is something we have not seen from Eagles corners for quite some time. He is the real deal. He and Mills were able to hold the Aiyuk, Samuel and Bourne to 8 catches on 14 targets for 86 yards. 

 13. McLeod steps up—Besides the interception, I thought McLeod did a go job considering he was playing alongside two inexperienced safeties in Epps and Wallace. That is not an easy task for a veteran to play alongside guys who are still learning the position at the NFL level. So far this year, he has had to play with Mills, Epps and Wallace all of whom have had 0 starts alongside McLeod before the season started. There were going to be growing pains and adjustments needed to be made and learning to play with one another. While, it was scary at the end of the game with Beathard moving the ball very easily, I thought McLeod was a steady force back there for the young guys. As much as I am unappreciative of McLeod, he was a very good tonight. He had 8 tackles and a pass deflection.  

 14. Play LeBlanc more; seems to just make things happen—I do not know what it is about LeBlanc, but he seems to just always be making plays for the Eagles. Since he has come to the Eagles, he just seems to have that IT factor. He had that great pick against Brees in the divisional game a couple years back and tonight he had a great blitz that resulted in a strip sack that setup the Fulgham touchdown. I am for LeBlanc being this team’s slot corner going forward. I do not think NRC has been neither as active nor as good as LeBlanc this year. Like I said, he seems to just always be making plays for the Eagles. Against the Niners he had 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 qb hit and a big time force fumble. He didn’t play great, do not get me wrong. Kittle had his way with him at times and he unfortunately, whiffed on a tackle as well. But imo he is just brings something when he is out there and makes plays when given the chance. 

 15. Doug, this team and Adversity—I gotta hand it to Doug and this team, it feels like every time this team has their backs against the wall they find a way to respond to him and claw their way to a victory. This game might not have been as pretty for the offense as the game up in GB last year, but it felt very similar. It was a must win game if the Eagles wanted a realistic chance at playoff football. They came up big and made big plays and responded when they could have rolled over and died. It is a credit to him that his players still respond to him even if us the fans think they are going down in flames. 

 16. Finally outscore opposition in second half—The second half before tonight’s game has been a dumpster fire for the Eagles. In the first half of their first four games, the Eagles had been solid as they had outscored their opponents 54-45. In their first three games, the Eagles had been demolished in the second half as their opponents had outscored them 49-13. On SNF, the Eagles were able to outscore the Niners 17-13 in the second half and it was the difference in the football game. Granted a little concerning that the Eagles offense could only score 10 points in the second half. I do not think that will be enough going forward. 

 17. First place—Yup the NFC East sucks. 

 

 

On the fence:

 1. Eagles run defense—I thought for most of the game the Eagles did an excellent job containing and bottling up the Niners rushing attack. The Niners running backs combined for 17 carries for 60 yards (3.53 yards per carry) and a late touchdown. However, the Eagles still managed to give up a 38 yard rushing touchdown to Aiyuk. Now, Aiyuk made a great individual effort, but the tackle was also poor. LeBlanc and Cox both had a chance and missed. Epps also had a chance to prevent the touchdown and Aiyuk just hurdled him. On the night, the Niners rushed 20 times for 116 yards (5.8 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. If you take away Aiyuk’s spectacular run, the Eagles gave up 78 yards on 19 carries (4.1 yards per carry). Now you cannot take that away from the Niners or this game. In 2 of the last 4 games, the Eagles have given up rushes over 35 yards. That is an area they need to sure up as the Ravens and Steelers will look to exploit. 

2. Schwartz defense—I want to give Schwartz a ton of credit. He had the Niners to just 14 points late in the 4thquarter even thought Kittle had been dominating the Eagles. Likely his plan to let Kittle gets his and the Eagles shut everyone else down. It looks great that the Eagles basically were able to do that outside of the AIyuk run, but really this kind of felt like Nick Mullens allowed the Eagles defense to look much better than they really were. To me, if CJ Beathard would have started that game and played how he did when he came in, then I am not so sure the Eagles win this game. It was way too easy for him when he entered. I want to believe the Eagles defense played great (DL definitely did), but I think Nick Mullens just being a bad QB played a large role in the Eagles defense being able to hold the Niners to 14 points for the first 55 minutes of the game. 

3. OLine—It is really tough to judge the offensive line without seeing the All 22 to get a better perspective of how they played. However, I thought Mailata considering everything played as well as you could ask. I thought Wentz also held onto the ball a couple times and allows for the hits and sack numbers to look worse. At least 2 of the 3 sacks I would say fall on Wentz holding the ball too long. Also not helping things is Lane going in and out of the lineup and playing with 4 backups and Kelce. Nevertheless, I think Wentz also used his legs and athleticism to avoid some sacks that some QBs aren’t able to escape from. I do think the pass blocking is what overly concerned me from this unit. It was the run blocking. I get Sanders had some holes where he could’ve gained more yards if he just hit it, but it felt like most of the night the Eagles backs just couldn’t find many creases and the Niners were just getting to are ball carriers. This is an area I would like to see improve. I think this unit can be far better in the run game. I think they need to be if this team wants to get to where they are going. The Niners accounted for 3 sacks and 10 Qb hits on the evening. 

 

The Bad:

1. Hurts packages/trick plays—For the second week in a row we saw Hurts come out onto the field and the ball was on the ground after the snap. I get why you do it as your team could use some juice and he can be instant offense. I like the looks, but I hate the fact that both weeks he has two fumbles and it could have cost the Eagles dearly. This is something I think you implement when he has had more practice doing so and is comfortable. I do think we are there yet. I actually would prefer if we ran some of this with Greg Ward who was a former college QB. I do not mind the calls as much as it is unnerving that he has come in back to back weeks and fumbled it and luckily recovered. It doesn’t give me confidence in running it with him right now. I also really do not love seeing Wentz go out for passes as it is a free shot on your QB. Furthermore, the Eagles nearly shot themselves in the foot and made little use of LeBlanc’s turnvoers trying to run these cute type plays. They were on the fringe of field goal range due to the trickery plays blwoing up in their face. There is a time and a place for it and right now we need to figure that out. It really kind of reminded me of the Dallas game in Dallas in Doug’s first year he called a trick type play and it wound up being disastrous for the Eagles. 

2. Red zone defense on the season—The Eagles red zone defense is still having issues. Granted McLeod came up with a timely interception to prevent the Niners from putting any points on the board, but the Niners in their next two trips into the red zone wouldn’t be denied. On the season, Eagles opponents have been inside the red zone 16 times. The Eagles defense has given up 11 touchdowns; That a 69% touchdown percentage. Really it is actually 11-15 as Washington when they were up 10 with under a minute just gave the Eagles the ball with a turnover on downs. The 69% puts the Eagles 21st in the NFL.  

 3. Wallace needs some time—I was rather surprised to see Wallace starting out there against the Niners after seeing the reports that it was going to be Epps. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great day for Wallace. He had issues covering Kittle at times and Kittle put some grown man moves on him. Honestly, kind of had to expect that as Kittle is one of the best in the business and he is a rookie playing his first meaningful snaps in the NFL. I do think there are going to be better days ahead for Wallace. Not every week he is going to be asked to try and contain Kittle. I think these snaps are going to be beneficial for him going into the future. These are important lessons that he is going to learn over the next couple weeks against some of the best offensive weapons or offenses the NFL has to offer. I do expect more struggles next week. I frankly wouldn’t start Parks at safety over him if he returns next week because I do think it benefits the Eagles long term. I would like to see Parks as the 3rd safety.

4. Red zone offense— While the Eagles weren’t bad in the red zone, they really cannot afford to leave points off the board with how the offense is struggling. The Eagles entered the red zone twice and walked away with a possible 10 of 14 points. The Eagles are not making enough trips inside the red zone right now to afford to just cash in one of two. For the season, the Eagles have been in the red zone 9 times and scored just 5 touchdowns, which is 55.6%. Furthermore, the Eagles in 3 of 4 games have only had 2 possessions go inside the red zone and each of those games scored just 1 touchdown. On the season, they are averaging just 2.25 trips into the red zone per game. 

5. Giving up big plays—An issue in the Rams and Bengals games was that the Eagles gave up big plays, which ended up putting points on the scoreboard or setting up points to be put on the scoreboard. Last week, the Eagles gave up a 42 yard reception to Bernard, which proved to be costly it led to a field goal in a game that ended in a tie. Against the Niners, Aiyuk rushed for a 38-yard touchdown. Kittle hauled in a 38-yard, which the Eagles defense was able to create a turnover otherwise the Niners likely added at least a field goal as they were inside the red zone. This hasn’t been as bad of an issue as in years’ past with the Eagles. Then again, I do not think they have faced some of the better offenses in this league yet besides the Rams and that game it really hurt them on the scoreboard. I think this is going to be a huge challenge going into next week against the Steelers. They have weapons all over the field, a good oline, Conner is a nice RB that and Big Ben might be the best QB they have faced all year. I am curious to see how the Eagles defend the Steelers. 

The Ugly:

1. Gerry is NOT good— I feel like a broken record saying this but Gerry is awful in coverage. He is always like 5-7 yards behind the receiver. He is awful at deciphering what and where they play is going. When they drafted him, he was a safety. So coverage was supposed to be a strength as he moved to linebacker. But he is just flat out terrible in coverage. It isn’t just his poor coverage skills, he has also looked embarrassingly bad trying to bring guys down. Looks like a rag doll at times just hoping the guy falls over himself. Furthermore, he maybe average against the run but at times just looks lost out there. At some point you got to do something and see what else others can offer. If Gerry is going to continuously be picked on and exposed by offenses then you owe it to the team to see what guys like Bradley, Taylor, Singleton and even Duke Riley can do. I get it could be worse, but really have seen enough of Gerry to know he is a ST/ backup in this league. At least the snaps with Bradley, Taylor or Singleton might be leading to better days ahead at linebacker as they learn from playing.

2. Where is Sanders?— First off, where in the hell is Sanders at the end of the game. After the Eagles recovered the drop kick around midfield, they had a chance to salt away the game with just 2:01 on the clock. On first down, some reason Corey Clement is running the ball? Corey Clement who hasn’t looked great since 2017 is getting carries late in the game over our best offensive player? That makes absolutely NO f***ing sense. So after the 2-minute warning, I assume that Sanders is going to be out there. But nooooooooo, Boston Scott is in the backfield. The same Boston Scott who is averaging .5 yards in this game and on the season averaging just 3.3 yards per carry. And then he rushes for next to nothing. And he is still on the field for third down when we could have used our best playmaker on the field. Meanwhile, Sanders is nowhere to be found. That is absolutely idiotic unless Sanders is hurt. It is borderline thinking you are the smartest person in the room. Miles Sanders is the Eagles BEST WEAPON. Let me repeat that, HE IS YOUR BEST WEAPON. Get him on the F***ing field. You would never take Westbrook or McCoy off the field in the most critical and crunch times of the game. It is beyond ridiculous he was nowhere to be found at that juncture in the game. It wasn’t just this situation though that bothers me. The fact that Sanders only had 14 touches in this game is hurtful to the offense. He is way too good for the Eagles to not have him at 20-25 touches per game. The fact he only had 3 targets in the pass game with the weapons we had at WR is mind blowing. He needs more touches. If he is able to find one crease he can hit a homerun and give you some instant offense. No other player in the Eagles backfield or at WR right now can really give you that spark consistently. I do not get why Doug and Duce refused to use him late in the game nor why the Eagles just continue to go away from him as the games wear on. On the evening, he had 46 yards rushing and 28 yards receiving.  Furthermore, I think we abandon the run wayyyy too often for a team that has oline issues and a QB that has been struggling. It is just weird how we just all the sudden stop running for long periods of time. 

3. Running game— Like I previously discussed with Sanders, the running game was not very good for the Eagles. The numbers don’t look awful as they rushed for 93 yards on 28 carries, which is a measly 3.3 yards per carry. However, when you take away Hurts and Wentz 10 carries for 55 yards, the RBs combined for 18 carries for 38 yards, which is 2.1 yards per carry. That is really bad. Heck Clement on the season has rushed 11 times for 30 yards, which is 2.7 yards per carry. Scott has 18 times fors 60 yards, which is 3.3 yards per carry. Outside of Miles Sanders none of the Eagles backs have really looked very good. I think the Eagles assumed Clement would be back to his 2017 form and Scott was good enough as a change of pace back. But while the OLine has been outstanding in run blocking, they have really been poor to find holes and make people miss. It feels as though if the Eagles are going to limit Sanders touches that they need to find a better second back cause Clement and Scott aren’t cutting it. 

4. Kittle destroys the Eagles—Under Jim Schwartz, the Eagles have seen some spectacular performances like Diggs destroying us in Minnesota last year or Antonio Brown in 2016 going off but the Steelers scoring just 3 points. Kittle put up some eye-popping numbers like they did tonight as they he was targeted 15 times and caught all 15 targets. Those 15 receptions went for 183 yards and a touchdown. I get the gameplan by Schwartz was likely let Kittle get his, but do not let anyone else beat you. Fortunately for the Eagles, Mullens isn’t a good enough QB because I felt the Niners should have just continued to keep going back to the well of Kittle. The Eagles linebackers and defense just had absolutely no answers to that mystery. He was unguardable. This falls right in line with the Eagles inability to cover tight ends this year. On the season, tight ends have combined for 25 receptions for 275 yards and 5 tds. That is the most touchdowns given up to tight ends in the league. This goes back to our linebackers are not good enough as well as our safeties are still learning the position at the nfl level. I fully expect teams like the Ravens to exploit this potential mismatch going forward and I am not sure the Eagles have an answer for this on the roster. 

5. 3rd down efficiency— It was a pretty ugly performance by the Eagles on 3rd down tonight. They finished the game just 4-for-13 on third down, which is 30.7%. Furthermore, when you add on the 0-2 on fourth down, it is really ugly. Heading into the game against the Niners, I thought the Eagles needed to do a better job putting themselves in 3rdand manageable or short. On the season, the Eagles had 47 3rd down attempts; of those 47, 24 of them were 3rd and 7 or longer. In this game, of the 13 3rd down attempts, the Eagles were in 3rd or 7or longer 8 times. They only converted one of those and that was because of a Niners penalty. It is not good that on the season the Eagles have had 60 3rd down attempts and in more than half (32) they have been 7 yards or longer. It means they are doing a porous job on first and second down of putting Carson and the offense in position to be successful. It ultimately didn’t cost them tonight, but eventually it is going to catch up to you. They are averaging 8 3rd and 7+ per game. 

6. 3rd down defense—The defense did an excellent job of causing turnovers and getting pressure on the 49ers quarterbacks, they didn’t have the same type of success on third down. The niners were able to convert 5-of-11 on 3rd down for 45.5%. That isn’t awful, but you look closer the Eagles just couldn’t get off the field on third down at critical times in this game. On a 3rd and 7 from the Eagles 38, the defense had a chance to push the Niners out of field goal range to force a punt or even hold the niners to just a long field goal attempt. Instead, Aiyuk busts off a 38-yard touchdown run and could have easily changed the entire game. On the second touchdown drive by the Niners, the Eagles couldn’t get off the field on 3rd and goal and limit the damage to just a field goal as Mullens found Kittle for a touchdown. Finally, the Eagles had a chance to stand tall at the goal line on the Niners last touchdown and McKinnon managed to bully his way into the end zone. This is an area where the Eagles for the most part have been good this year except at critical times in the game. They seemingly just cannot get off the field and it usually comes back to haunt them. They were fortunate tonight that wasn’t a deathblow.  

7. Ertz isn’t Kittle—I get with all the weapons out in the Eagles passing attack that the Niners were going to make it their business to take Ertz away from the Eagles and make someone else beat them. However, Ertz was damn near non-existent tonight. This is a game where he had a chance to prove to the world that he was close to the same stratosphere as Kittle and he failed to really show that. I think Kittle is the best tight end in football. Do not get me wrong, he is very close with Kelce who is on pace to set his 5th consecutive 1000 yard season. I just prefer Kittle cause I think he is a better blocker at this stage of his career and young. I think there is still room for him to get even better which is scary. Nevertheless, Ertz like most of this year has been non-existent for the Eagles. Ertz had a nice two point conversion, but finished the game with 4 receptions for 9 yards. Yes the niners did everything in their power to make someone else beat them and have very good linebackers, but if Ertz expects to be paid in the same realm as Kittle and Kelce then he has to be way better than 9 yards on four receptions. The Eagles really need Ertz to get going. I get the contract situation is likely still bother internally, but at some point you have to just accept it and go out there and deliver. The Eagles cannot continue to keep getting performances like this out of Ertz. On the season, Ertz has registered 19 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. That is a miniscule 35 yards on just under 5 catches a game. That isn’t good enough. 

8. Lane leaves and comes back—I love Lane Johnson, but tonight felt a lot like how Peters would be in and out of the game. Lane is one of my favorite Eagles of all time, but it is becoming very concerning over the last couple years that he has been banged up and forced to leave games midway through. We have harped on Peters for this issue and I get Lane at this stage is still a much better player, but it is worrisome. I am not sure this offense can survive a major injury to Kelce or Lane right now. They were only able to manage 18 points in this game if you discount the Singleton touchdown. I am hoping Lane is going to be alright for next week because I think the Steelers have the best defense we’ve seen so far this year. 

 

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Well before I read this I'll sum it up this way;  good was better than the bad, with some ugly sprinkled in. lol

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We were less bad than San Fran when it mattered, that's the unvarnished truth, you say the Int wasn't on Wentz and thats fine, but go and watch the first TD drive, the pass to Sanders gets tipped and deflects to Sanders, that throw was missing so badly I honestly think (hope?) Wentz was trying to throw it away, he also had a couple of almost picks that would've been absolutely his fault. I get it, we're like Yay a win, and ignoring the obvious flaws for a while. 

Our secondary is so awful it's a matter of time before someone with a better QB than Nick Mullens puts an absolute monster score on us,  Mullens missed some gimme throws to wide open guys that would've gashed us for chunk plays, our line backers are barely practice squad level and if one of these Slay dings eventually puts him out for any length of time our defensive backs aren't that much better.

I'm happy that we won, but dispassionately watching the game in the cold light of morning, we still aren't a good team and I'd still only pick us for 3 more wins at best from here on out. 

 

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3 minutes ago, Perforator said:

Hey Debbie Downer. Ever stop to think we might get better?

 

Question, how much better do you think we can get?

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12 minutes ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

We were less bad than San Fran when it mattered, that's the unvarnished truth, you say the Int wasn't on Wentz and thats fine, but go and watch the first TD drive, the pass to Sanders gets tipped and deflects to Sanders, that throw was missing so badly I honestly think (hope?) Wentz was trying to throw it away, he also had a couple of almost picks that would've been absolutely his fault. I get it, we're like Yay a win, and ignoring the obvious flaws for a while. 

Our secondary is so awful it's a matter of time before someone with a better QB than Nick Mullens puts an absolute monster score on us,  Mullens missed some gimme throws to wide open guys that would've gashed us for chunk plays, our line backers are barely practice squad level and if one of these Slay dings eventually puts him out for any length of time our defensive backs aren't that much better.

I'm happy that we won, but dispassionately watching the game in the cold light of morning, we still aren't a good team and I'd still only pick us for 3 more wins at best from here on out. 

 

I never said they were gonna be a great team. Or that they’re even good. And I agree with you mullens left plays on the field that if they had Beathard in there all game I think they would’ve lost that game. However I don’t think it was the secondary that was bad in that game. I do think Wallace struggled but I expected that out of a rookie. I thought Mills was fine. He’s never going to be a great corner but I thought he was at least average out there which is better than what you were getting out of Avonte Maddox was playing at below average level.

To me the biggest problem of the Eagles defense last night was there linebackers cannot cover anybody. It’s obvious running backs are killing their linebackers in coverage and tight ends are killing the linebackers. It wasn’t deebo or aiyuk that was killing them who slay and mills covered most of the night. And the plays that are left on was the fullback and you know who is supposed to be covering on that? the Eagles linebackers. That right now on your defense that is your biggest problem. I believe Wallace with time will be fine. Mills is going to struggle from time to time but I think he could be average with help over the top then if you have maddox out there who is just not good at all

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2 minutes ago, Perforator said:

Hey Debbie Downer. Ever stop to think we might get better?

 

Hey Harry Homer, i don't doubt a fair bit of our early season struggles is because Doug continually soft pedals training camp and pre season, that spine snapping change up to game speed football is probably why we have so many muscle and ligament injuries the last few years too, but our roster is filled with contract hangovers and practice squad reclamation projects and no I don't think we're good enough to get that much better.

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The good was definitly all the players named "who?" that stepped in and stepped up. Wentz looking better. The Oline that was in shambles, did enough. and that includes the rugby dude.I won't give up on barnett.. though I still have a hard time giving up on Clement... 😕

Peters, Jackson, and that WR that used to be good. can't even remember his name. though i've had a few. Need to go, like seasons ago....

We drafted two LB's. One in the third round, Taylor. were is he and why not give him a shot.

 

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Just now, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I never said they were gonna be a great team. Or that they’re even good. And I agree with you mullens left plays on the field that if they had Beathard in there all game I think they would’ve lost that game. However I don’t think it was the secondary that was super bad in that game. I do think Wallace struggled but I expected that out of a rookie. I thought Mills was fine. He’s never going to be a great corner but I thought he was at least average out there which is better than what you were getting out of Avonte Maddox was playing at below average level.

To me the biggest problem of the Eagles defense last night was there linebackers cannot cover anybody. It’s obvious running backs are killing their linebackers in coverage and tight ends are killing the linebackers. It wasn’t deebo or aiyuk that was killing them who slay and mills covered most of the night. And the plays that are left on was the fullback and you know who is supposed to be covering on that? the Eagles linebackers. That right now on your defense that is your biggest problem. I believe Wallace with time will be fine. Mills is going to struggle from time to time but I think he could be average with help over the top then if you have maddox out there who is just not good at all

My huge worry and the thing that will stop us winning this division is the fact that, even if they have nothing else going for them, the Cowgirls have an offense that looks like it will absolutely destroy our defense, they have at least 3 receivers that would be unquestionably #1 on our roster and genuinely they could put a basketball score on this secondary just by throwing to whoever they play at slot against our linebackers.

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10 minutes ago, Cthulhu said:

The good was definitly all the players named "who?" that stepped in and stepped up. Wentz looking better. The Oline that was in shambles, did enough. and that includes the rugby dude.I won't give up on barnett.. though I still have a hard time giving up on Clement... 😕

Peters, Jackson, and that WR that used to be good. can't even remember his name. though i've had a few. Need to go, like seasons ago....

We drafted two LB's. One in the third round, Taylor. were is he and why not give him a shot.

 

I think it’s time we all except Corey Clement is not as good as he showed in that Super Bowl run. Clement was awesome in that Super Bowl game but he hasn’t been anything close to that since then. He’s been downright terrible this year. He has 11 rushes for 30 yards. The offensive line hasn’t been great but he should be at least better than 2.7 yards per carry. Frankly I’d much rather see what Huntley, killins or Holyfield can do 

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1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I think it’s time we all except Corey Clement is not as good as he showed in that Super Bowl run. Claimant was awesome in that Super Bowl game but he hasn’t been anything close to that since then. He’s been downright terrible this year. He has 11 rushes for 30 yards. The offensive line hasn’t been great but he should be at least better than 2.7 yards per carry. Frankly I’d much rather see what Huntley, killins or Holyfield can do 

:sad:

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1 minute ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

My huge worry and the thing that will stop us winning this division is the fact that, even if they have nothing else going for them, the Cowgirls have an offense that looks like it will absolutely destroy our defense, they have at least 3 receivers that would be unquestionably #1 on our roster and genuinely they could put a basketball score on this secondary just by throwing to whoever they play at slot against our linebackers.

I frankly still think the cowboys are gonna win the division simply because their schedule is easier than what the Eagles are going to face. They still have the bengals, vikings, giants twice and Washington twice. Imo they should win all 6 of those games. Makes them have 7 wins. I don’t think any of those teams could put up the offense of points necessary to beat Dallas. I kind of think they’ll beat Arizona cause i think Arizona are frauds. Ultimately this division might come down to the fact of the Eagles in week one lost to Washington. 

And I don’t disagree with you the Cowboys can still score points On us. I think it’s going to be hard for the eagles to win those games unless they are healthier. Their defense might be awful but I don’t know how many teams can put up the amount of points they do on an every game basis. It just so happens that three of the first four weeks they had teams that could in Atlanta, Seattle and Cleveland. 

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3 minutes ago, Cthulhu said:

:sad:

 i think Boston scott is starting to show why he is also not as good as he showed last year as well. Both have been abysmal this year running the ball. That’s why it’s absurd they’re only giving Sanders a certain amount of touches. Those guys having warranted getting touches. They’ve been bad almost every game this year. The fact that miles Sanders somehow only got 15 touches in this game is ridiculous. That is your best weapon. It’s not Zach ertz. It’s not desean. It’s not reagor. It’s not goedert. It’s sanders. He is way way way too good of a receiver out of the backfield to have two catches. 

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Good write up, I have to say though that I do not put that fumble on Hurts. It was a terrible snap by Kelce. 

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Great stuff, but I think you need to include our prevent defense in The Ugly category. We allowed the niners to waltz down the field with almost no resistance and we didn't even get them to burn much of the clock. That was ridiculous. 

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4. Kittle destroys the Eagles

I'm pretty sure any team with a TE with even half the skill of Kittle is going to have a career game against us.  Our LB corps is just dreadful.

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3 hours ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

We were less bad than San Fran when it mattered, that's the unvarnished truth, you say the Int wasn't on Wentz and thats fine, but go and watch the first TD drive, the pass to Sanders gets tipped and deflects to Sanders, that throw was missing so badly I honestly think (hope?) Wentz was trying to throw it away, he also had a couple of almost picks that would've been absolutely his fault. I get it, we're like Yay a win, and ignoring the obvious flaws for a while. 

Our secondary is so awful it's a matter of time before someone with a better QB than Nick Mullens puts an absolute monster score on us,  Mullens missed some gimme throws to wide open guys that would've gashed us for chunk plays, our line backers are barely practice squad level and if one of these Slay dings eventually puts him out for any length of time our defensive backs aren't that much better.

I'm happy that we won, but dispassionately watching the game in the cold light of morning, we still aren't a good team and I'd still only pick us for 3 more wins at best from here on out. 

 

It's amazing how often in the NFL you see a QB throw a pass that should have been picked but wasn't. What's even more amazing is people on this board would have you believe it only happens to Eagles QBs.

 

Mullens did miss badly on some throws. I grant you that, but what was happening around Mullens each time that happened? I think they call it pressure or something ...

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It feels good to wake up with the Eagles in first place! Even if it's still a losing record. LOL.

Wentz wasn't perfect, but he was better. Good to see him playing loose. I fully expected Hurts would be active at this point in his career, running trick plays. But if he's going to be so careless with the ball, maybe it's not the best for his development. Coaching staff needs to consider whether those trick packages are worth it. The one fumble is on Kelce, bad snap going the wrong way when Hurts was running the opposite way. He had another bad snap to Wentz. Not the best game by Kelce, but being the only starting lineman out there I'm sure he has lots on his mind. Sanders and running game couldn't get going, but I think losing LJ early contributed much to that. Once he came back, they ran a play pulling him out, Sanders gets a good gain off his block. Good to see the defense finally come away with some turnovers.

Good win, deserved. It wasn't perfect but they played their guts out 60 minutes. Maybe the team can pivot off this.

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The good: The Eagles got a win. The bad: This win will foolishly get people thinking this team is good now. The ugly: The NFC East is so bad a tie with the Bungles has put them in first place. 

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56 minutes ago, toolg said:

It feels good to wake up with the Eagles in first place! Even if it's still a losing record. LOL.

Wentz wasn't perfect, but he was better. Good to see him playing loose. I fully expected Hurts would be active at this point in his career, running trick plays. But if he's going to be so careless with the ball, maybe it's not the best for his development. Coaching staff needs to consider whether those trick packages are worth it. The one fumble is on Kelce, bad snap going the wrong way when Hurts was running the opposite way. He had another bad snap to Wentz. Not the best game by Kelce, but being the only starting lineman out there I'm sure he has lots on his mind. Sanders and running game couldn't get going, but I think losing LJ early contributed much to that. Once he came back, they ran a play pulling him out, Sanders gets a good gain off his block. Good to see the defense finally come away with some turnovers.

Good win, deserved. It wasn't perfect but they played their guts out 60 minutes. Maybe the team can pivot off this.

Not sure why I keep seeing everyone dogging Hurts for the ball hitting the ground. Did you not see how off target the snap was? Kelce is the one that Fed that play up. Just like when he snapped it over Wentz head earlier in the game. 

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1 hour ago, brkmsn said:

It's amazing how often in the NFL you see a QB throw a pass that should have been picked but wasn't. What's even more amazing is people on this board would have you believe it only happens to Eagles QBs.

 

Mullens did miss badly on some throws. I grant you that, but what was happening around Mullens each time that happened? I think they call it pressure or something ...

I didn't say anywhere the D line played badly, but Mullens missed throws that a decent QB makes pressure or not.

Having said that the problem of our defense remains, if the D line can't get there, there is literally nothing behind them beyond Slay to trouble a starting caliber NFL QB.

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Thanks for a great write up as usual. A great win and hopefully the team can build on it.  Avery was the biggest surprise for me. The guy was a bowling ball and was spending time in the backfield against a stout oline.  I was mad that he got picked over Ostman but was pleasantly surprised.

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