11 minutes ago, RLC said:

My frustration with not having Penny active is very simple. We don't have any backs other than Penny who are physical. When we need to get 3 yards on 3rd and 3, it's just easier with Penny than Gainwell/Scott. I'm not advocating for 10 Penny touches. 5-7 is fine.

As for Swift, he dropped an easy catch on 3rd down. If he catches it clean, he had a real chance to get the 1st down as he had leverage on the defender. It's not like he showed up.

You don't like using the QB as the power back?  Or to run out the clock at the end of the game?   

I don’t think most people had an issue letting TJ Edwards go, it was not having a better plan than just Cunningham and Dean that’s the problem.

And I still believe they should’ve found a way to keep CGJ. Again, maybe he was just dead set on leaving, but the narrative at the time wasn’t they couldn’t afford him once they signed Bradberry. Which in hindsight is total BS. 

15 minutes ago, RLC said:

My frustration with not having Penny active is very simple. We don't have any backs other than Penny who are physical. When we need to get 3 yards on 3rd and 3, it's just easier with Penny than Gainwell/Scott. I'm not advocating for 10 Penny touches. 5-7 is fine.

As for Swift, he dropped an easy catch on 3rd down. If he catches it clean, he had a real chance to get the 1st down as he had leverage on the defender. It's not like he showed up.

I like swift. I think he’ll be more utilized going forward and have some good games for the eagles. But when they traded for him, I also said, I like the trade but don’t know if I’d call it a massive homerun yet. There were a lot of concerning things that came out prior and then after him being traded by lions reporters. which came from sources within the Lions organization. one of the concerning things was as a runner he didn’t take what the oline would give him so he left a lot of meat on the bone and he had questionable vision in finding the hole as a runner but was extremely dynamic as a pass catcher. It’s why even when he came back from injury jamaal Williams got the bulk of the carries. The other was his reliability/durability.

like I said, I think swift is going to make an impact in some games for the Eagles. I’m guessing way more utilized on Thursday night. But as a runner, I think the best runner on the team is Rashaad Penny ( if he is healthy and hasn’t lost a step due to the injuries). Issue is the coaching staff likes gainwell and that showed during the playoff run last year and having swift as well and penny doesn’t play ST. 

Anyone wanting to keep TJ Edwards should watch this on a loop. Edwards was "fine" last year. He was not good in games where the DL didn't dominate (Washington game 2, SB57). Chicago has a bad DL...and Edwards was bad again.

1 hour ago, GoEagles614 said:

I think Brown needs to at LEAST get snaps at LBer on deep passing downs. He can cover a draw/run, and has more athleticism than Elliss and Cunningham. I’m really disappointed by the lack of creativity with our personnel yesterday, especially leaving 2 Lbs in on passing downs, and not putting hands on receivers. On the other side Hurts isn’t comfortable yet in the offense and it shows, would’ve loved to see more HBs getting more touches, more slip screens, and getting some downhill running for the OL to control the game. 

The game plan looked like a pre season game super Conservative and vanilla on both sides of the ball, maybe since the starters played next to zero pre season this was the starters warm up game.

Hopefully it gets better especially on offense , 2 total yards on 5 straight possession is just horrid.

 

5 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

You don't like using the QB as the power back?  Or to run out the clock at the end of the game?   

I disliked it. Most of the called hurts runs didn’t work that effectively. Felt like the pats knew it was coming and hurts just got down after a yard or two. The one time we really got a decent gain was the play where the pats defender made a great hit on hurts and the ball to cause the fumble. 

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

I disliked it. Most of the called hurts runs didn’t work that effectively. Felt like the pats knew it was coming and hurts just got down after a yard or two. The one time we really got a decent gain was the play where the pats defender made a great hit on hurts and the ball to cause the fumble. 

Those plays don't work when the run game isn't already cooking. Nobody is really scared of Gainwell.

I don't buy the Eagles hiding Swift and Penny because of the quick turnaround. I think the Eagles just really like Gainwell. They used him most in camp for a reason. They also really like Barnett and really like Justin Evans for some reason(tried to trade for him last year at the deadline).

33 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Very possible.   I got the feeling during the course of the game that they almost wanted to play the game with one hand tied behind their back offensively.  It's possible that this Thursday, Penny is activated and Gainwell is deactivated (unlikely).  But, it would make some sort of sense.   Almost as if they went into this 2 game stretch as a bit of a 'double header' (Phillies reference!) and didn't want to 'deplete the bullpen' too much in an out of conference matchup week 1.  

Baseball talk.  Reported!!  

4 minutes ago, judunno said:

Those plays don't work when the run game isn't already cooking. Nobody is really scared of Gainwell.

We can say nobody scared of gainwell (and i don’t necessarily disagree), but in the playoffs, he played more and more, and when they ran that type of play with gainwell out there it worked a good portion of the time. Knowing that belichick had an entire offseason to prepare for this game, I think this is more that the patriots looked at the Eagles offense from last year and probably picked up on a tendency of when a called hurts run was happening. It’s why it felt like the patriots knew what was coming and able to minimize the advantage the eagles have with hurts’ legs. 

3 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

I don't buy the Eagles hiding Swift and Penny because of the quick turnaround. I think the Eagles just really like Gainwell. They used him most in camp for a reason. They also really like Barnett and really like Justin Evans for some reason(tried to trade for him last year at the deadline).

We'll see. Would be nice to have Penny and Swift get the majority of the touches this week.

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

I disliked it. Most of the called hurts runs didn’t work that effectively. Felt like the pats knew it was coming and hurts just got down after a yard or two. The one time we really got a decent gain was the play where the pats defender made a great hit on hurts and the ball to cause the fumble. 

And he shouldn't have taken that hit either... nor should he have been put in that position.   But, on 1st down in a situation where you are trying to run out the clock... get the 6 yards, then get down.  The extra yards in that situation weren't worth the risk of injury or fumble.  Get down, keep the clock moving and line up for 2nd down and 4 with a healthy QB and the ball.  This isn't NCAA.  The QB running to kill the clock is NOT sustainable at the NFL level.  

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

We can say nobody scared of gainwell (and i don’t necessarily disagree), but in the playoffs, he played more and more, and when they ran that type of play with gainwell out there it worked a good portion of the time. Knowing that belichick had an entire offseason to prepare for this game, I think this is more that the patriots looked at the Eagles offense from last year and probably picked up on a tendency of when a called hurts run was happening. It’s why it felt like the patriots knew what was coming and able to minimize the advantage the eagles have with hurts’ legs. 

Looked like the strategy to me was to ignore the RB and first priority was Hurts. We need an RB that can't be ignored.

1 minute ago, Iggles_Phan said:

And he shouldn't have taken that hit either... nor should he have been put in that position.   But, on 1st down in a situation where you are trying to run out the clock... get the 6 yards, then get down.  The extra yards in that situation weren't worth the risk of injury or fumble.  Get down, keep the clock moving and line up for 2nd down and 4 with a healthy QB and the ball.  This isn't NCAA.  The QB running to kill the clock is NOT sustainable at the NFL level.  

He was trying his patented cut but that hit was timed perfectly.

3 minutes ago, judunno said:

He was trying his patented cut but that hit was timed perfectly.

Sure.  It was.  But, he shouldn't be looking to make people miss at that point in the game, in that situation.  Get down.  Don't take the hit, don't take the risk.   We saw the exact same thing from him in 2021 against the Saints in an almost identical situation.  

 

He should NOT be running the ball there as a designed play... and he DEFINITELY should be coached in that situation that he is to get down and avoid contact, because in those exact situations, the defenders are going to be taking extra liberties trying to get the ball out.  And frankly, I don't want my QB dealing with that.  That's not his role.  And if it is his role, you've failed in equipping your team.  

1 hour ago, Saltpeter said:

You say "no reason" but there are a few reasons. Eagles are the most cautious team in the league with injuries, Swift has had nagging lower body injuries, they play 2 games in 5 days, and it was raining the entire first half. Gainwell is also a more downhill runner.

I'm not saying those are particularly great reasons or what I would have done, but it's not this huge shock Gainwell got a lot of touches on Sunday.

I don’t believe for one second rain or history of lower body injuries was the reason the Eagles limited Swift to two touches. I think they simply had a terrible plan for the RB rotation. 

7 minutes ago, judunno said:

Looked like the strategy to me was to ignore the RB and first priority was Hurts. We need an RB that can't be ignored.

A lot of teams are going to be using that technique a lot more and not just because of who we have at RB, but in an effort to wear down Hurts.   Hit him, hit him, and just keep on hitting him at every opportunity you can.   That's always been a mantra for a lot of defensive coordinators with any QB.  If you get a chance to hit the QB... do it.   And the biggest difference with him as a ball carrier versus as a passer in the pocket, he loses all protection from the rules.  As a ball carrier, he's no different than any other player on the field.  As a passer, he gets the protection around his knees, the touching of his helmet, and the 'driving' into the turf.   As a runner, none of those rules apply, only the 'direct and forcible' contact to the head will be called.  

 

I was hoping to see an offense that wasn't so dependent on Hurts running with the ball on designed plays this year.   We did not see that at all yesterday, and that's likely the biggest disappointment I have with that game.  

1 minute ago, ManuManu said:

I don’t believe for one second rain or history of lower body injuries was the reason the Eagles limited Swift to two touches. I think they simply had a terrible plan for the RB rotation. 

Historical precedent for this going back multiple coaching staffs!

43 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Gainwell also out touched Swift in training camp so not sure why the shock

16 touches to 2 should be shocking. 

45 minutes ago, RLC said:

My frustration with not having Penny active is very simple. We don't have any backs other than Penny who are physical. When we need to get 3 yards on 3rd and 3, it's just easier with Penny than Gainwell/Scott. I'm not advocating for 10 Penny touches. 5-7 is fine.

As for Swift, he dropped an easy catch on 3rd down. If he catches it clean, he had a real chance to get the 1st down as he had leverage on the defender. It's not like he showed up.

Gainwell and Scott are pretty good short yardage backs despite their size. I’ll defend Gainwell there. Last year people would get so annoyed with Gainwell up the middle on third and 3, but he was so much better at those plays than Sanders. Gainwell, will see it and hit the hole. He just isn’t that good at getting more than is blocked. Swift can, but he is Sanders-like in that he will often get less than is blocked too. 

Not that I’m advocating Penny shouldn’t be active. He should IMO. 

Dean in a walking boot isn't good at all.  Wonder what Howie does to address the LB issue if Dean is done for the season.

Just now, Iggles_Phan said:

Sure.  It was.  But, he shouldn't be looking to make people miss at that point in the game, in that situation.  Get down.  Don't take the hit, don't take the risk.   We saw the exact same thing from him in 2021 against the Saints in an almost identical situation.  

 

He should NOT be running the ball there as a designed play... and he DEFINITELY should be coached in that situation that he is to get down and avoid contact, because in those exact situations, the defenders are going to be taking extra liberties trying to get the ball out.  And frankly, I don't want my QB dealing with that.  That's not his role.  And if it is his role, you've failed in equipping your team.  

He was trying to make a play. Sometimes instincts just take over. Teaching point for sure. 

I don’t want this to be a Gainwell bash session. He is a fine player and deserves a solid role in the offense. He was simply overused yesterday.

6 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

A lot of teams are going to be using that technique a lot more and not just because of who we have at RB, but in an effort to wear down Hurts.   Hit him, hit him, and just keep on hitting him at every opportunity you can.   That's always been a mantra for a lot of defensive coordinators with any QB.  If you get a chance to hit the QB... do it.   And the biggest difference with him as a ball carrier versus as a passer in the pocket, he loses all protection from the rules.  As a ball carrier, he's no different than any other player on the field.  As a passer, he gets the protection around his knees, the touching of his helmet, and the 'driving' into the turf.   As a runner, none of those rules apply, only the 'direct and forcible' contact to the head will be called.  

 

I was hoping to see an offense that wasn't so dependent on Hurts running with the ball on designed plays this year.   We did not see that at all yesterday, and that's likely the biggest disappointment I have with that game.  

I disagree. If one of these guys starts popping of 5-6 yards a carry, they're not going to be focusing on Hurts as much at that point.