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The good, the bad and the ugly: week 12 Vs. Seahawks


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The Good:

1, Schwartz and the defense—Yes the Eagles gave up some big plays to DK Metcalf, but I thought overall the Eagles did an excellent job on defense in this game. Heading into this four game stretch, I thought we were going to see just how good or bad the Eagles defense really was. In this game they showed me a lot. They had an excellent red zone stand to keep the Seahawks out of the end zone in the first drive of the game. They were getting to Wilson and hitting him. They were much improved in the red zone from what they have been for most of the season. I would add on the offense turning the ball over on downs gave the Seahawks field position inside the Eagles territory twice. That led to a total of 6 points on the short field. It wasn’t perfect out there, but I thought the defense holding the Seahawks to 23 points was a success. They deserve a lot of credit for playing their hearts out and limiting a high powered Seahawks offense to just 23 points. 

2. Hargrave plays his best game to date—I was really down on Hargrave from what he had seen so far this year. He had been a major disappointment. He was paid a lot of money that likely should have been allocated elsewhere and really he had come up very small for the Eagles since coming back from his injury. In this game, he was excellent. He was generating pressure from both the DE and DT position. The Seahawks were really struggling to keep the Eagles defensive line off Wilson and he along with the DL got some nice pressures and hits in on Wilson. The stat line will only say 3 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 QB hit, but to me this is what the Eagles expected when they signed Hargrave. A guy you could play alongside Cox and together they could wreck offensive lines. Hopefully this is him just scratching the surface. The opponents do not get easier from here. I am curious to see how he does against the Packers. The Packers might be without their starting center next week and I think it is an opportunity for the DT trio to have a lot of success. 

3. Barnett beginning to emerge—If this season is a lost season of just horrendous Eagles football, then we have to take some small things to be hopeful about going forward into 2021 and beyond. This to me is something the Eagles really needed to happen. Brandon Graham is going to be another year older and on the last year of his contract. After Graham, the Eagles really do not have much in the pipeline besides Sweat and Barnett. So the Eagles really could use Barnett to step up and prove he is worthy of a second contract. Over the last 3 weeks, Barnett has registered 2 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and 5 QB hits. That would be the most in each category for the Eagles over this 3-week window. Tonight he looked very good against a solid LT tackle in Brown for the Seahawks. Furthemore, he prevented a touchdown on 4th and 2 as he blew up a motion toss to David Moore to keep the game tied at 0. It felt like a huge momentum turner for the Eagles. In this game, Barnett recorded 3 tackles, a sack, 2 tackles for loss and 2 QB hits.  I am actually excited to see how Barnett looks against the Packers, Saints and Cardinals. He is going to have his hands full over the next couple weeks and if he plays like he did tonight then the Eagles defensive line becomes really scary even if the offense is bleh. I am really pulling for Barnett to breakout down the stretch. If he is able to then you might actually at least one starting defensive end for the future. 

4. Cox, Sweat and Graham—Let me start with Fletcher, I thought the stat line was not indicative of how he played tonight. He was a force out there and he really created a lot of problems for the Seahawks. He was consistently getting into the backfield against the run. He even got to Wilson for a sack, which for many of the games we have played with the Seahawks he has been able to elude the sacks and get rid of the ball. I feel like if the DL is able to consistently the way they did against the Seahawks then it will be easier for Cox to be the player we have seen in the past. As for Sweat, it was encouraging to see him get going again last week. It was even more encouraging to see him play just as well this week. He had fallen off from his hot start, but seems to be getting going again. He had a few good pressures on Wilson and was stout against the run most of the night. Over the last two weeks, he has had a sack, 2 tackles for loss and 3 QB hits. I will take that from our 3rd defensive end. Finally, Graham didn’t have an excellent game in the stat column, but he was his typical self in the run defense. Graham accounted for 1 of the Eagles 10 tackles for loss. Additionally for the most part didn’t lose containment on Russell Wilson, which has been something teams have killed the Eagles on most of the season. 

5. Mailata better than Peters—It really shouldn’t be that much of a shock but I thought Mailata was significantly better than what we have seen from Jason Peters over the last couple weeks.  He wasn’t perfect, he and Seumalo had a miscommunication that led to a sack in this game, but he was holding his own. I would have loved to see the Eagles run the ball more to see how he progressed in his run blocking, but the pass blocking most of the night was not a problem on the left side of the line. The major issue tonight for the Eagles came from the right side where Pryor and Peters were both awful for much of the night. At this point, I am guessing we are going to see Mailata start at LT for the next 5 games. I am very interested to see how he holds up next week against the Packers and the following week against the Saints who have some very good pass rushers. There is definitely going to be some growing pains in those games, but if he is able to learn and build off of it then the Eagles really might have something with him going forward into 2021. 

6. Goedert becoming the playmaker many envisioned—After the first two games back from injury, I was dumbfounded about why the Eagles just continuously refused to get Goedert involved in the offense and why they didn’t get him involved early in games. In this game, he could have really had a monster game if Wentz got more on one of the only deep balls the Eagles really took in this game. From watching the replay feels like Wentz couldn’t exactly step up to make a better throw but he also just didn’t get much under it. However, Goedert really asserted himself even without that reception. He pulled in a touchdown on a beautiful route in the end zone that the defender had no chance on. On the night, he pulled in 7 receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. Over the last two weeks, he has 12 receptions for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. I am hoping this is a trend that continues. The Eagles need playmakers. They really lack many right now and he has a chance to be one of the best in the league. He has all the tools. To me it is about finding consistency ands staying healthy. A couple weeks ago I was concerned about his nonexistence in the passing game. It has been great to see them recognize he needs to be more involved. 

7. Singleton and Edwards— For the second week in a row, I really liked what I saw from Singleton. He just plays with some swag and he has good instincts. Now he isn’t always going to make the play and he sometimes is going to be bullied due to his size, but he is flying around out there and plays with an attitude. I loved the fact he threw a guy down after making a play. Furthermore, he is much much better than Gerry. He might only be an average linebacker in the NFL, but over the last two weeks he has earned the right to be the Eagles starting linebacker for the rest of the season when Gerry is healthy. I am much more confident that he is going to not be 10 yards behind his guy in coverage and isn’t going to be out of position 3 out of 4 plays. As for Edwards, I still think he is more of a backup in this league. I get if you can maximize his strengths on first and second down and then get him off the field he can have a serviceable role with the Eagles and in the league. He was stout against the run tonight as he recorded 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss. 

8. Run defense and containing Wilson—I give the Eagles defense a lot of credit tonight. On my way home from work, I heard a report on 975 saying that the Seahawks believed that they could run on the Eagles defense. Frankly I wouldn’t have disagreed with them as the Eagles had given up 287 yards over the last two weeks and 4 touchdowns. Additionally, the Eagles had given up 115 yards or more in 8 of their 10 games this season. So of this has been an inability to contain the QBs from running and it has really hurt the Eagles. In this game, Wilson really only broke containment twice as he scampered for 5 and 10 yards. Overall, the Eagles were able to put the clamps down on Wilson as he rushed for just 12 yards on 6 carries. Furthemore, the Seahawks were only able to rush for 76 yards on 30 rushes. That is a 2.5 yards per carry. Besides the beast mode run by Chris Carson, the Eagles held the rushing game and really the Seahawks offense besides Metcalf in check most of the evening. It doesn’t get easier as next 3 weeks the Eagles find themselves going up against Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara and Darke, Edmonds along with QBs who can also take off with the ball. 

9. 3rd down defense— The Eagles have really turned the corner in this area. They are beginning to find their stride here. Heading into the game against the Seahawks, the Eagles defense over the last 4 weeks had given up 16 first downs on 54 third down attempts, which is 29.6%. That is one of the best in the league over that span. Yes they have been fortunate in some instances like Engram dropping an easy wide open pass, but overall they have been much better. In this game, the Seahawks were a mere 2-10 (20%) on third down. I thought the Eagles did an excellent job of getting pressure on Wilson. The Seahawks didn’t get another 3rd down conversion after the 52-yard reception by DK Metcalf. That is pretty impressive as that reception came with 12:17 in the second quarter. Meaning that basically for nearly 3 quarters the Seahawks were unable to convert on third down. It was a reason the Eagles were hanging around in this game. 

10. Red zone defense— Another area where I thought the Eagles defense has really begun to play much better is in the red zone. A couple of weeks ago, the Eagles were giving up touchdowns at a 69% rate in the red zone. Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have had two red zone stands where they turned away the Browns and Seahawks from getting any points. Additionally, the Eagles over the last two weeks have held their opponents to just 3-7 in the red zone, which is 43%. This is a drastic improvement from what we have seen through the first 10 weeks of the season. Furthermore, they are not just holding teams to field goals but also keeping points off the board in general with great stands. I am curious to see how the next three weeks go. The Packers, Saints (assuming Brees is back) and Cardinals are very good at capitalizing in the red zone and all three have great weapons inside the red zone. Nevertheless, the Eagles for the season are 23-36, which is 64%.

 

On the fence:

1. Eagles offense on third down— On the surface you look at the Eagles third down efficiency and say they actually did a pretty good job in this game. They finished the game 8-17, which is 47%. This is far better than the Eagles 2-21 over the last 2 games and the donut they got two games ago against the Giants. That said, I thought the 3rd down offense was atrocious in the first half. They started off the game 0-5 on third down. That means after that point the Eagles were actually good as they converted 8-of-12, which is 66%. At one point they converted on 6-of-7 third downs. Unfortunately, you cannot have 3 and outs for the first five possessions and expect to win football games.  Furthermore, the Eagles routinely find themselves in 3rd and 7+ in every game. The Eagles had 12 third down opportunities, they were in 3rd and 7+ in 8 of those 12 attempts. On the season that puts the Eagles at 140 third down attempts and 71 of them have been 3rd and 7+. That is ridiculous that over half of their third down attempts are of 3rd and 7+ variety. If you want to know why this offense continues stalls or cannot sustain drives, this is a major reason.

 

The Bad:

1. Maddox isn’t a starting outside corner!!!— I do not know how many more times I have to say this, but Maddox is just not a good outside corner. You saw the lack of size come into play in the red zone. That was a beautiful throw by Wilson and catch by Moore, but Maddox inability to matchup with the taller Moore was evident. He really had no chance at that. It was a bad plan from the start with the Eagles. He had no competition in training camp. Jones was in the doghouse and likely not back as soon as he got hurt again in training camp. The Eagles are now forced to go with him the next 5 games on the outside cause they have only him who they trust. Frankly, I would just go with Jacquet and see what he has and what type of improvement you see from him week to week. At this point I know what Maddox is and isn’t, which is not what I can say from Jacquet. He might be just a JAG, but I rather figure that out then get what we have seen from Maddox most of the year. 

2. Two QB system—I do not know what the Eagles are trying to do, but the old saying is if you have two QBs you don’t have any. The Eagles in the first half were trying to run an offense where they pulled Wentz for a play then went back to him. That is a tough concept to understand at the NFL level. Feels borderline idiotic that we would attempt to run a 2-QB system, which even most college teams have gone away with. I think it just shows the Eagles don’t trust either Wentz or Hurts. They need to make a decision at the start of the game and go with that QB unless things are really bad where the offense just is atrocious. If the Eagles would’ve pulled Wentz after the first five series then I could have understood with how bad the offense was. Unfortunately, besides one throw by Hurts to Jeffery, Hurts’ package of plays weren’t all that successful either. Make the move or don’t. Don’t play the fence with this game. We are at the point either crap or get off the pot. Tonight this was ridiculous. 

3. Kelce’s snaps—I love Jason Kelce, but man it feels like every game he is having 1-2 bad snaps. I understand he is an absolute warrior for playing with what is likely a pretty serious injury, but it has gotten to be routine even before the injury we will have 1-2 bad snaps per game. 

 

The Ugly:

1. Carson no es bueno— It was a really ugly game for Carson for most of the night. In the first half, the Eagles could do nothing.  In the Eagles first five possessions, Carson and the offense had a -1 total yards. In addition, through 3 quarters of the football game, Carson had an average yards per attempt of just 3.5. At the end of the game, it rose thanks to a Hail mary type of play by Richard Rodgers to 3.8. That is really not good.  Additionally, he missed Goedert on what would have likely gone for a massive play and even a touchdown if he gets more on the pass and puts it where only Goedert could come down with it. Unfortunately like most of the year, it was just an underthrow that went incomplete. If that wasn’t bad enough, his interception in the red zone was puzzling and just awful. First he had Rodgers open across the middle. It wasn’t hit first read, but if he went through his progressions and he had time, it was an easy conversion and the Eagles likely keep it at a one-possession game. I do not know if Goedert didn’t run his proper route but the throw was really not close to any Eagles receiver. That said, it isn’t all his fault. We have guys like Alshon Jeffery supposed to be blocking for a WR screen meanwhile Reagor doesn’t run the WR screen and runs a route downfield and this leads to a sack. We have routes that are creating no separation. We have half of an oline that is just not good. And on top of all that we refuse to utilize our personnel to what they do best. That said, he is $128 million dollar QB and takes a brunt of the blame. Do I think he was awful in this game? I don’t. I think he was not good, but I saw major issues on the right side of the line, bad play calling, poor excuses at WR and somehow Alshon playing way too many snaps for a guy who’s going to be cut in 5 games. That said Wentz needs to figure this out and get better. I am not sure how bad the Clowney hit was, but it feels like something is off with him since that hit which is obvious in his production and performance. I think concussions are pretty serious and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is still feeling some of the repercussions of that hit. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he just doesn’t trust what he is seeing and is seeing ghosts with how the offensive line is always shuffling week to week. I also don’t think the eagles have done a good enough job with the QB coach and coaching in general. Also howie has failed to get one legitimate consistent wide receiver weapon in 3 years  

2. Doug Pederson puzzling— I know a lot of people are going to bash Carson Wentz after tonight’s game. Rightfully so, he was not very good. However, I still think Doug has no clue what he is doing out there right now. I say this for a couple of reasons tonight. First, the whole Hurts/Wentz situation going on in the first half. That was ridiculous and annoying. Just make the move or don’t. Quit playing the fence. Second, why the hell is Doug on 4th and 4 from the Seahawks 15-yard line going for it when it is a 20-9 game? You kick the field goal in that circumstance to make it a one-possession game especially with how your defense was playing. You make that chip shot field goal and the defense gets a stop like they did then you have a chance to tie the ball game up. Instead the Eagles squandered away points and an opportunity to be in a one-possession game with a chance. Third, we have guys who aren’t even running the play that is called. On the sack midway through the 3rd quarter on third down, he is sacked cause we have one wide receiver blocking down field and another who didn’t run the WR screen he was supposed too (Reagor). This seems to be an issue every single week we have guys not running routes or miscommunication about what the route or play was supposed to be. So if plays aren’t doing what the play is being called then I have to ask is the coach getting through and making sure his guys actually know the offense? Fourth, why the heck are we going for 2 after the Rodgers touchdown? Granted the Eagles were able to convert, but if you don’t then you are in an 8 point game. Meaning you need an onside, touchdown and two-point conversion just to tie it. It made no sense to go for it there as an onside recovery, touchdown and extra point ties that game. I get Elliott missed an extra point earlier and it isn’t a significant play considering only 12 seconds left, but that just showed me he goes on a whim when he wants to go for two. Fifth, this offense continues to ignore how to use their playmakers and lacks creativity. It took us 12 weeks, yes 12 weeks, to run a motion toss to Reagor. It should not take us 3/4ths of the season to discover how to use him. Furthermore, we just ignore Fulgham once again until the 4th quarter, but try to get Alshon involved when he is done and no good. I strongly urge once again to watch some of the other offenses around the league. Specifically this week the Niners who really had weapons of Mostert and Deebo Samuel. Watch how Shanahan finds creative ways to get Samuel the ball, give him some space and also utilize his physicality after the catch to their benefit. We do none of that with anyone. Sixth, why do we keep running slow developing plays when we have a makeshift offensive line that isn’t holding up. I do not get for the life of me how Doug continues to call plays that take way too much time considering the lineup we hare playing with. Lastly, this was a relatively close game all night. Our best offensive weapon is Miles Sanders. He and the running game managed to only get 14 carries. If you take away 2 of the Wentz rushes that were pass plays where Wentz took off it is just 12 rushes. Meanwhile a struggling passing offense accounted for 53 pass attempts. Anyone who wants to explain why we are attempting to throw 53 times and only call 12 runs, please let me know cause it makes no sense with how bad the passing game has been. These are all the coaching issues going on with Doug. If there is people on here still trying to defend Doug like Hurts is going to change all this then you are out to lunch. 

3. Offense overall— This offense continues to get worse and worse by the week. Over the last 4 weeks, the Eagles offense has managed to score 15, 17, 17 and 17 points. And two of the touchdowns have come in garbage time otherwise it would be much worse. They are averaging 16.5ppg over the last 4 games. Add on the Eagles have managed to only score 5 first quarter touchdowns and 45 total points in the first quarter of games on the season. The offense is just miserably to start games. Uusally it doesn’t get much better as the game wears on either. Heading into this game, you hoped the Eagles could find some offense and really get into a rhythm.  The Seahawks have played much better over the last two weeks against two good offenses in the Rams and Cardinals. However, they were giving up the most passing yards per game with 343 passing yards per game. Additionally, they were giving up 435 yards per game. Sadly, the Eagles were not able to do anything for the first five possessions. Even after the slow start the Eagles were only able to account for 250 total yards. They had only 180 passing yards. At this point in time, the Eagles offense might be the worst offense in the NFL. I think the only team I could definitively say is worse than the Eagles is the Jets. This is a shame because the defense gave you a performance and a chance to win this game. It is kind of obvious that Doug doesn’t have a clue on how to fix the offense. Wentz is not going to pull himself out of this funk either. Also it has shown the Eagles still lack good weapons on the outside, which has been the issue for much of the last 3 seasons. The lack of quality weapons on the outside can be pointed in the direction of Howie. 

4. The crap show that is the Eagles…Lurie news before game—I absolutely hated the news that came out before the game that Lurie told the coaching staff that if Wentz struggled to pull him for Hurts. Not that I would be mad or upset if the Eagles decided to sit Wentz and let Hurts showcase what he is or isn’t right now. However, the fact he dictating what happens on the field and not trusting his coaches is pretty telling. It feels like the Eagles organizationally are also a complete mess. I get when it rains it pours, but the news coming out that Howie dictates who is active and not active on gameday and Lurie along with Howie are forcing coaches and what players should be on the field is a recipe for disaster. I understand this probably happens elsewhere, but in the good organizations and good football teams, the owner isn’t doing these things and is trusting his coaches to make the right move. Granted I can understand perhaps not trusting Doug, but you put yourself in that position and only making it worse. The news that Doug wouldn’t be all that depressed if the Eagles fired him and earlier this year he was at the end of his rope makes sense. I do not think all three are going to be back after the 2021 season. I still believe Lurie is going to bring back Wentz, Doug and Howie in 2021. However, if this gets to the point where the Eagles are getting destroyed like the Bucs and Lions game during the Chip regime then maybe. Nevertheless, this organization is a crap show from top to bottom. All week we heard Hurts had more first team reps in practice then he didn’t out of Doug’s mouth to Lurie saying he must play if Wentz struggles to Peters somehow playing LT         then moved to RG and then Opeta magically goes on IR to Pryor starting at RT. It is a complete crap show and it starts at the top. This feels like the dysfunction going on at the end of the Reid era. 

5. Penalties— For the second time in 3 weeks, the Eagles have amassed over 8 penalties and 70 yards. This week they were called for 9 penalties for 79 yards. They had two idiotic personal foul penalties by Slay and Malik Jackson on the first drive that really could have hurt the Eagles if the Seahawks could punch the ball in. This team just feels like they are not very disciplined and focused at times. 

6. Slay and the Eagles secondary vs. Dk Metcalf— Let me first say, that was not a good game by Slay. That is the type of game where you pay Slay what you do and trade the pick you did to help limit the best weapon and receiver on the other team. I get he didn’t give up all 177 yards and 10 catches to Metcalf, but I’d argue in 2 of the last 3 weeks, he has been solidly beaten by Slayton and Metcalf. Something the Eagles cannot afford to have when the DL is playing the way it did tonight.  All that said, the reason why I put the Eagles secondary vs. Metcalf and not just Slay is because he wasn’t the only reason why Metcalf went off for a career high 177 yards. On the 52 yard reception, Slay was beaten by Metcalf. However Metcalf is going to do that to a lot of good corners, but McLeod was absolutely caught in no man’s land. He got caught looking in the backfield at Wilson and he was supposed to be the deep guy with help for Slay. If he doesn’t get caught in the middle of the field covering no one then that pass is a much harder reception for Metcalf. Instead it was a nice pickup of 52 yards as McLeod was completely out of position. Another play where Metcalf just beat Slay down the right sideline. Yes, Slay was beat and pretty soundly beat, but once again McLeod is sitting in the middle of the field looking in the backfield instead of reacting to where the ball was going and Slay needing help over the top. By the time McLeod recognizes it, it is way too late and Metcalf had another big time pickup of 31 yards. While Slay was lackluster against Slayton and Metcalf and needs to be better, he also looks a lot worse cause Rodney McLeod on two of the bigger pass plays for the Seahawks is out of position and not doing his job which was to be help over the top. 

7. Running game—I was actually just starting to get excited about the running game. It felt like they were getting on track and could at least figure out that part of the offense and have some consistency. Against the Seahawks it really reverted back to what we saw before the last 4 weeks. The Eagles only called 12 running plays. They had 14 carries for 70 yards. Wentz was the lead rusher as he scampered for 42 yards on 5 carries. The trio of Eagles running backs combined for 28 yards on just 9 carries, which is 3.1 yards per carry. I am not sure if the run blocking was poor or the backs just didn’t hit the holes cause the Eagles really didn’t run the ball enough to see which was the case. To me the lack of production from the running game falls more on gameplan. This was a relatively close game in the second half and much of the first half, yet only 9 rushing attempts by the backs. That is unacceptable when your passing offense is as bad as it is.

8. WR offseason plan gone sour— Last week the Eagles WR corps combined for 8 catches for 69 yards. This was a nightmare type of game for the WRs. The Eagles 5 WRs combined for 9 catches for 46 yards. The leading receiver was Fulgham with 2 catches for 16 yards. Additionally, Reagor had just 3 for 11. I made it a point all offseason that the Eagles were setting themselves up for failure just going into the draft to solve their WR problems and relying on DeSean to stay healthy. You were asking a lot of rookies in a pandemic offseason without real team activities to just hit the ground running and give you consistency. While there have been some good WRs from this class that have done so, the Eagles haven’t been good at developing WRs to bank on them hitting gold this way. It was also moronic to just expect DeSean to stay healthy at his age. It was why I was for making a trade for a veteran WR or going out and spending on Anderson to be a competent WR and eventually DeSean’s replacement. At this point I don’t know what the Eagles have in any of Hightower, Fulgham or Reagor. Frankly each passing week it begins to look worse and worse that they took Reagor where they did in the first round. He seems to not be building off each game and week. I do not know if the Eagles have a top 10 pick, but if they do I still don’t think they would go WR. That feels like the Eagles would go OL or DL due to value of position and draft slot. However with the offensive weapons on the outside being as poor as they have over the last couple games, I think it is going to be very hard for the Eagles to pass up on someone like Chase. 

9. Blitz pickups by RBs— A story that has flown under the radar for far too long this season is the Eagles running backs being unable to pick up the blitzer. In this game, there was a play where Adams came on a blitz. Sanders stayed into block for a second and then just goes out on a pass route where Adams just runs by him to come in for the sack. That is just poor blitz pickup recognition. This has been the area where Sanders has really regressed this year. Last year, I was pleasantly surprised with how he was able to pick up the blitzes as a rookie. It was something I thought would take him more time then it did. This year, he has been downright bad at it. It isn’t just him. It has been Boston Scott as well. He has also done a pretty mediocre to bad job at recognizing and picking up the blitzer. It would be one thing if physically they were just getting beat, but this is more mentally not picking up where the blitzer is coming from and delivering a block. It actually makes sense to me why they picked up Howard even though he has looked poor this year in Miami. I think they actually trust him in pass protection to do the job whereas Sanders and Scott have really regressed. 

10. Peters and Pryor—I get not all 6 sacks and 12 Qb hits fall on Pryor and Peters, but these two were bad in this game. Peters is playing through a toe injury and his first game at right guard. However, it is completely obvious to everyone not in the Novacare center that he is more of a hindrance at this stage in his career than helpful to the Eagles. I am not a huge fan of Herbig, but at this point he is better than what you are getting out of Jason Peters. If you do not like the fact he isn’t athletic enough then why the heck did you sign him to begin with. That was the book on him coming out of Stanford. He was never going to be the superior athlete like Brandon Brooks, Lane, Seumalo and Kelce are. He isn’t in that mold. I would like to see what he can do. As for Pryor, I do not know what happened to him this offseason but he went from being serviceable in a playoff game to being atrocious. He is as bad at right tackle as he is at RG. I again do not understand why we are not playing Driscoll over Pryor. I need to see what Driscoll is and I think he has more upside then Pryor who is likely cut next year. Driscoll might also fail, but at least you are getting him some experience and seeing his limitations. We know Pryor isn’t very good and really shouldn’t be relied on to be a backup. The oline has had 10 different lineups this year, but I would argue Peters at RG and Pryor at RT has been the worst I’ve seen from the right side of the line. That includes the first game of the season with Herbig and Driscoll. 

11. Alshon continuing to get more snaps— I don’t get it. I do not understand the arrogance to continue to send Alshon out there to play snaps and take away from the young kids. I get the young receiving corps has been a massive let down, but they are learning and didn’t have a true offseason due to the pandemic. Whether it is Doug or Howie making this decision it is absolutely idiotic and you are trying to prove a point but getting more and more egg all over your face. Just admit it was a mistake giving him the restructured contract and live with it. Everyone else sees what it is except the ones in charge. 

12. Fulgham 52% of the snaps— I don’t know what is more frustrating the fact he only played 52% of the snaps or the fact the Eagles continuously do not look his way until the end of the 3rd quarter or 4th quarter. It has been like this since the Steelers game. Over the last 3 weeks, I have counted just 2 targets for him in the first half. I do not think Fulgham is the greatest thing since slice bread and yes the league was going to adjust, but watching the All 22 they just don’t really run plays for him as the first read until late in the game and he has gotten open at times and we just don’t throw it to him. It is absurd that we don’t even involve him until we are down double digits late in games. 

13. Red zone offense— Another area where the Eagles have struggled over the past couple weeks has been inside the red zone. Against the Seahawks it was no different as they managed to go 1-3 in the red zone with an interception. In the last two weeks the Eagles have had 3 turnovers in the red zone. They have only accounted for 3 touchdowns in those 7 red zone trips. It is really hard to beat the good teams in this league when your turnovers in the red zone equal the amount of touchdowns you have had over the last 2 weeks. 

14. Miscommunication, not on the same page and unprepared—Like I pointed out above, the Eagles are running plays where guys aren’t running the plays they are asked. We have guys having miscommunication on routes. We have a multitude of penalties. We are in week 12 and this is all still happening. This is a reflection of the the coaching staff and Pederson. Heck the offense over the last 6 games has scored 4.3 points in the first half. It is even worse when you go look at the first quarter. The Eagles offense hasn’t scored a point dating back to the Giants game after the bye. They haven’t scored a touchdown since the Cowboys game. Furthermore in the last 6 games, they have scored just 2.83 points on average in the first quarter. That is less than a field goal. This team is unprepared for the start of games and really looked unprepared for most of the games.

15. Creating turnovers—While I thought the defense played well enough to deserve to win this football game, they still managed to create 0 turnovers. This has been the bugaboo for the Eagles over the last two years and it seemingly has gotten even worse this season. The Eagles have 3 interceptions through 11 games this season. They have just 6 total interceptions in their last 21 games. In this game it felt like the Eagles were never in an opportunity to even create a turnover (that challenge it really wasn’t even very close). On the season, the Eagles are now 0-7-1 when they force 1 turnover or less. 

16. Who’s no. 1 fall guy—Depending on who you ask it is Wentz or Doug or Howie. In my book, it is Howie. This team imo was poorly constructed in March and April. It was pretty obvious if you didn’t have your Eagles colored glasses on that this team to just get to 9 or even maybe 10 wins would need Wentz to play like a star. There were so many question marks all over the field. One at safety with Mills, another at corner with Maddox, the entire linebacker group, the young WRs being able to step up, DeSean staying healthy, the oline would Dillard be good, could Lane stay healthy. There was way too many questions and potential for implosion for anyone to really consider this a SB contending type of team even if Wentz was playing well. This doesn’t even discuss the poor restructuring of contract, poor free agent signings and the bad drafting over the years. If I were Lurie and I had to fire or get rid of one of the three it is definitely Howie. He is the biggest culprit here. It is the third regime change he has been apart of and the organization has managed to become dysfunctional in each one of them and fall into mediocrity and then a poor football team. It is time to move on and find someone who knows how to draft and get this organization headed in the right direction. 

 

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This team is a freaking mess. Sorry let me correct myself. This offense is a freaking mess. 

The D was pretty good i thought. Yeah it gave up some big plays to Metcalf but I mean that dude is a beast. But overall they did well to contain Wilson.

But my god that offense. Wentz is awful, he's broken. Doug needs to get him out of there and yet he didn't. That game was fairly close despite Seattle dominating us but Wentz stayed in the game. What is that all about? How can Doug defend that decision?

The best thing Carson did was on the snap that went over his head. He recovered the ball quickly, tried to extend the play and in the end made the right decision to throw it away.

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This team is beyond fixing any time soon.  

A full reset is needed in the front office and the coaching staff.   The team lacks standout talent and the QB is trash. 

Blow it all to smithereens.

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I actually think about you when I’m watching this garbage they trot out there every week. I feel bad that you actually take the time to write about this slop. 
 

Kudos to you for your dedication. I always enjoy the read. 

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What a great job by you, once again. Your  postgame analysis is better than that of any other outlet. You should have a national audience for these recaps.
 

Now we see why the Eagles went to EVERY lineman on the roster before Pryor.

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It’s absolutely maddening that we kept trotting Gerry out there to stink up the joint for half the season when we had better players riding the bench. The same goes for Peters starting on the left side. Whoever is selecting our starters needs his walking papers this week. It’s inexcusable at this point in the year. 

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*applause* I always look forward to these as you do such an amazing job. I do not understand why you do not write for the Eagles column in the paper or something because you do such a great job with analyzing all aspects of the game....kudos to another great write up

I already kind of wrote my thoughts in the Good morning Football thread.....

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Lurie ain’t waiting for after 2021 to make changes big guy. Doug is gone after this year. Either by firing or by Lurie hiring the OC and relinquishing play calling duties from Doug. 

Howie will have his role diminished as well. 

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What a disaster from top to bottom.  We're gonna lose the next 3 and be 3-10-1.  Then hopefully the last 2 vs Dallas and Washington.  I don't think Doug wants to be here anymore.  Howie is a cancer who is worse at his job than almost anyone in pro sports.  Lurie is finally waking up from his gold standard slumber.  Hopefully we lose out and he promotes Howie to executive VP of nothing and they fire all coaches with the exception of Stoutland and Duce I guess.  Ugly now and it will get much worse but it will all be over in 5 weeks.  Until we suck again next year. Most important thing now is we need to lose, Lurie cleans house and hires the right people 

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11 minutes ago, Wentz 2 Ertz said:

Lurie ain’t waiting for after 2021 to make changes big guy. Doug is gone after this year. Either by firing or by Lurie hiring the OC and relinquishing play calling duties from Doug. 

Howie will have his role diminished as well. 

I think you're right. I sure hope so.  Doug is gone for sure and Jeff has to move Howie out of player personnel.  Louis Riddick did us a huge favor last night.  To hard core New England/LA limo liberals like Lurie, image is everything.  Louis ripped Howie and the organization to shreds last night.  It was beautiful. Jeff surely felt it.  I wonder if the sound is on for the TVs in his box?

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As long as Howie is anywhere within the organization, he will work to worm his way back in charge of player personnel. He must be shown the door. 

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So the Eagles threw 55 passes. Wentz missed 4-5 passes that were overthrown, underthrown or thrown to a spot when there was no one there. So because he threw 4-5 missed balls we should bench him and put in Hurts. 

I blame Wentz for poor play, but not to the point where I am going to bench/cut him. IMO, the O-Line is a mess and more responsible for this loss. Wentz is the most sacked QB in the NFL. How can anyone have success with that? His WR don't get seperation. That's Howie's fault. And Pederson doesn't run the ball. That's his fault.

It's not going to get any better this season. 

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34 minutes ago, GeorgeM37 said:

*applause* I always look forward to these as you do such an amazing job. I do not understand why you do not write for the Eagles column in the paper or something because you do such a great job with analyzing all aspects of the game....kudos to another great write up

I already kind of wrote my thoughts in the Good morning Football thread.....

He does.  Phillyvoice dot com.  They have the best Eagles articles

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2 minutes ago, weko said:

He does.  Phillyvoice dot com.  They have the best Eagles articles

Thanks for the info.....I am going to look that up

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Just now, PoconoDon said:

As long as Howie is anywhere within the organization, he will work to worm his way back in charge of player personnel. He must be shown the door. 

Absolutely. He is the ultimate Dilbert C roach survivor.  A cancer that needs to be cut out.  The idiot of idiots has to go.  But i don't think Jeff will fire him.  Hopefully promote him to executive VP of jock straps, like before, and we'll wait as he works to undermine the new hire and slowly worms his way back in.

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17 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

So the Eagles threw 55 passes. Wentz missed 4-5 passes that were overthrown, underthrown or thrown to a spot when there was no one there. So because he threw 4-5 missed balls we should bench him and put in Hurts. 

I blame Wentz for poor play, but not to the point where I am going to bench/cut him. IMO, the O-Line is a mess and more responsible for this loss. Wentz is the most sacked QB in the NFL. How can anyone have success with that? His WR don't get seperation. That's Howie's fault. And Pederson doesn't run the ball. That's his fault.

It's not going to get any better this season. 

4 to 5 passes?  LOL

Maybe 4-5 passes that were no where near the receiver. (1+ yards off).  There were at least another 10 passes that hit players in the feet/knees...over their heads, on defenders  helmets, etc.

Anyone still defending Wentz at this point needs to take the blinders off and realize that he is no longer an NFL QB and hasn't been since his concussion last year.  If he doesn't retire, next year could be his last year in the NFL after the Eagles cut him.

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3 minutes ago, weko said:

Absolutely. He is the ultimate Dilbert C roach survivor.  A cancer that needs to be cut out.  The idiot of idiots has to go.  But i don't think Jeff will fire him.  Hopefully promote him to executive VP of jock straps, like before, and we'll wait as he works to undermine the new hire and slowly worms his way back in.

If Jeffrey Lurie can can his life log friend Joe Banner, then he certainly can dump Banner's Mini-Me.

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4 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

So the Eagles threw 55 passes. Wentz missed 4-5 passes that were overthrown, underthrown or thrown to a spot when there was no one there. So because he threw 4-5 missed balls we should bench him and put in Hurts. 

I blame Wentz for poor play, but not to the point where I am going to bench/cut him. IMO, the O-Line is a mess and more responsible for this loss. Wentz is the most sacked QB in the NFL. How can anyone have success with that? His WR don't get seperation. That's Howie's fault. And Pederson doesn't run the ball. That's his fault.

It's not going to get any better this season. 

No QB could thrive here now.  The scheme is a disaster, the play designs elementary, the WRs can't run routes and have little talent, the O line has been left to fall apart without young reinforcements.  It's a disaster that needs to be blown up.  You can't judge anyone in this 5 alarm house fire.  Yes Wentz is playing poorly.  But he has no time on most pass attempts, Doug is refusing to roll him out like he wants, there is no separation with the WRs at all, no where to throw the ball downfield.  They don't even try anymore.  Whole thing is a complete mess with 33 offensive coaches.  Blow it up

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2 minutes ago, PoconoDon said:

If Jeffrey Lurie can can his life log friend Joe Banner, then he certainly can dump Banner's Mini-Me.

That is our only hope.  We can't fix this with Howie having any influence.  

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1 minute ago, weko said:

No QB could thrive here now.  The scheme is a disaster, the play designs elementary, the WRs can't run routes and have little talent, the O line has been left to fall apart without young reinforcements.  It's a disaster that needs to be blown up.  You can't judge anyone in this 5 alarm house fire.  Yes Wentz is playing poorly.  But he has no time on most pass attempts, Doug is refusing to roll him out like he wants, there is no separation with the WRs at all, no where to throw the ball downfield.  They don't even try anymore.  Whole thing is a complete mess with 33 offensive coaches.  Blow it up

I agree that No QB could thrive with the mess this team is. That includes Hurts. I'm not at the blow it up stage yet. Because, I don't know who they can get to coach the team and handle the draft. Look We got rid of Andy Reid and he went to KC and won a SB. Is blowing it up the right answer. I remember the Steelers won the SB and then lost year after year with the same Head Coach and a decade later he won the SB again. So, I would be careful. Not sure it's the best decision. 

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33 minutes ago, weko said:

He does.  Phillyvoice dot com.  They have the best Eagles articles

I wish phillyvoice would give me a paycheck then. 

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2 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I wish phillyvoice would give me a paycheck then. 

I see... they're using the same article title as you.  Your work is far superior and very detailed.  They should hire you.  Thanks for making such a huge effort.  Always enjoy reading each week.

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1 minute ago, weko said:

I see... they're using the same article title as you.  Your work is far superior and very detailed.  They should hire you.  Thanks for making such a huge effort.  Always enjoy reading each week.

Yeah i noticed a couple seasons ago they began too. Not sure who came up with the idea there but during the first year of doug and wentz i decided to do it and there wasn’t that article at philly voice. I want to say around 2018 they began having rosenblatt writing it. I believe he went to a different beat and then Kyle neubeck. 

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44 minutes ago, jsdarkstar said:

I agree that No QB could thrive with the mess this team is. That includes Hurts. I'm not at the blow it up stage yet. Because, I don't know who they can get to coach the team and handle the draft. Look We got rid of Andy Reid and he went to KC and won a SB. Is blowing it up the right answer. I remember the Steelers won the SB and then lost year after year with the same Head Coach and a decade later he won the SB again. So, I would be careful. Not sure it's the best decision. 

That's the thing. Any really hard job, people get better at it with time. Fans act like a team should be 12-4 and in the Super Bowl every year (like, ahem, on Madden), but the fact in real life is that a guy who can hit 10-6 fairly regularly and win a division once every three years is a Hall of Fame coach. As long as a coach has what it takes to lead a team successfully and has the fire to put in the work it takes to be an elite coach, he should be given time to grow. 

The why the news about Lurie ... let's say ... "giving permission" to bench Wentz is the worst thing. That's some Jerruh nonsense. He's been one of the best owners in the NFL, and we've been lucky to be fans during his time, but if he has started micromanaging the team, it can't turn out well.

I've suspected that the Hurts pick was Lurie's decision; he's probably the origin of the "quarterback factory" idea. I'd hate to find out that he's been behind many other bad decisions over the past 2-3 years. Maybe (just guessing) he doesn't really trust Howie or Doug, but in that case he needs to bring in someone that he does trust. 

(And the loudest Eagles fans really only want a brash 9-7 trash talker who might someday win a playoff game. If they had to choose between Andy Reid and Buddy Ryan, they'd pick Buddy every time. If we had people like Buddy here now, most of the fans would be like "well every team has a down year sometimes and we've got a lot of injuries this year.")

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1 hour ago, jsdarkstar said:

So the Eagles threw 55 passes. Wentz missed 4-5 passes that were overthrown, underthrown or thrown to a spot when there was no one there. So because he threw 4-5 missed balls we should bench him and put in Hurts. 

I blame Wentz for poor play, but not to the point where I am going to bench/cut him. IMO, the O-Line is a mess and more responsible for this loss. Wentz is the most sacked QB in the NFL. How can anyone have success with that? His WR don't get seperation. That's Howie's fault. And Pederson doesn't run the ball. That's his fault.

It's not going to get any better this season. 

It's the tide. It's the dismal tide. It's not the one thing.

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