Game Review – TB 33, PHI 16

Posted: October 8th, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 2 Comments »

It has been over a week since the Eagles lost to Tampa in a highly frustrating performance. I decided to re-watch the game so I could get a better feel for what went wrong. Was it coaching? Was it a lack of talent? Was it bad football?

I put this loss on the players more than anything. Mistake after mistake after mistake. There were other issues to be sure. I wasn’t a huge fan of the offensive play-calling early on. The defense didn’t have answers early on. There is plenty of blame to go around.

The Eagles blew opportunity after opportunity. They fell behind 14-0 and then got a stop on defense. You just knew the game was going to turn. And then Cooper DeJean muffed a punt because Isaiah Rodgers shoved a blocker into him. Tampa got the ball by the red zone and went up 21-0. Ugh.

The Eagles cut the score to 24-14. They had momentum on their side. The defense came out and got Tampa into 3rd & 7. Conversion. Then the defense got them into 3rd & 11. Conversion. You just knew the defense was going to make a big play, but instead they let the Bucs march down for a TD. That made it 30-14.

Then Rodgers blocked the PAT and Kelee Ringo had an amazing return for 2 points. Suddenly it was 30-16 and the Eagles had momentum back on their side. The offense marched down to the TB 19-yard line. A TD there makes it a one-possession game and the pressure is really on. But then Jalen Hurts is hit and fumbles. The Bucs recover and the game is basically over.

Beyond that, there was a chance for a big pass play to Saquon Barkley, but Jalen Hurts rushed the throw and didn’t come close. There were multiple chances for INTs, but the defense couldn’t make a play. Josh Sweat had a chance to get a strip-sack, but couldn’t get the ball out. Dallas Goedert missed a chance for a catch that might have gone for 20 yards or more.

If you thought the game was frustrating live, it was even worse on re-watch. With several key players out, the Eagles needed players to step up. That didn’t happen. Hurts struggled, finishing 18-30-158. The fumble was a killer. You have to protect the ball better than that. Nakobe Dean missed a bunch of tackles. He also struggled in coverage. The secondary was way too loose in coverage. All of them. They tightened things up in the second half, but not enough. CJGJ was awful at times.

Grant Calcaterra needs to go. His defender made the tackle on 2 of the first 6 plays. Awful blocking. He almost gave up a blocked punt early in the game. He did have a catch that went for 26 yards, but his blocking is unacceptable. You can see Jack Stoll getting more playing time already. The coaches see Calcaterra’s issues. I just don’t like having players that soft on the team outside their rookie year.

Not everything was bad.

Saquon Barkley was great, going 10-84 on the ground and 2-32 in the air. He just needed more touches. I think the coaches out-smarted themselves. They knew TB struggled with run D. Logic says run the ball. The Eagles came out throwing, to catch the Bucs off-guard. It didn’t work and kept the Eagles best player from getting touches. Football doesn’t have to be so complicated.

Brandon Graham played well. He had a sack and was disruptive.

Parris Campbell did a good job to get open and catch a short TD.

Thomas Booker continues to play hard. He had 4 tackles and was relentless in pursuit of the ball.

Moro Ojomo got into the backfield a few times.

We got some signs of life from Bryce Huff. He had 1 tackle. He got into the backfield a few times. He chased the ball all over the field on multiple plays. That’s not close to what you want from an expensive free agent, but maybe he can build on this and start to show why the Eagles signed him.

I came away from this with mixed feelings. The good is that the Eagles have the talent to play well and win games. There were stretches of this game when they looked good. Then you add in AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and Lane Johnson. Suddenly you feel a lot better.

At the same time, this team came out flat against a team they should have had some motivation to beat. I don’t want to make too much of the revenge motive since last year and this year are different teams, but I would think Hurts would be locked in to beat Tampa since they’ve beaten him twice in the playoffs. Instead Hurts struggled. Darius Slay struggled. CJGJ struggled. The veteran leaders didn’t step up. They stepped back. That’s a serious concern.

This week is going to be big for the Eagles. They need to win, but also to play well. These up and down performances need to stop if this team is going to go on a run and live up to preseason expectations.

*****

Good news.

The Eagles need better depth at safety so Brown’s return is a big help. The team could also use help at WR. I’m not sure Smith is ready to push for playing time, but getting him back into practice will help his development.

*****

Not so good news.

White was expected to be the MLB. He got out-played by Dean this summer and lost his job. White wasn’t a STer so that led to him being inactive.

It is good that the Eagles let him go. Keeping White around without playing him wasn’t going to lead to anything good. He can now go find a job somewhere else.

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Interesting Off Day

Posted: October 7th, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 2 Comments »

The Eagles had this week off so I spent Sunday watching other games and the Red Zone channel. It can be interesting to spend a day focused on the rest of the league and not just the Eagles.

The first thing that jumped out is that a lot of teams have issues right now.

The Niners are 2-3 after falling to the Cardinals. Injuries have been a major issue, but it is still surprising for such a loaded team to be 2-3 right now. Last year they started 5-0 before losing three in a row. Then they won six in a row to get to 11-3. We’ll see what happens this year.

Doug Pederson got questioned this week about possibly losing his job. That seemed to surprise him, despite an 0-4 start. The Jags won today to get to 1-4. One of his biggest issues is the lack of development by Trevor Lawrence. He was seen as a potentially great QB coming out of Clemson, but hasn’t come close to living up to expectations.

Shane Steichen did a brilliant job in helpin the Eagles get to the Super Bowl in 2022. He is now coaching the Colts and they went 9-8 last year. The Colts are 2-3 this year. Steichen’s handling of Anthony Richardson is a bit troubling. Richardson hurt his hip last week and left the game for a bit. He can back in and ran the ball, hurting his hip and missing the rest of the game, as well as this week. It looked like the play was a read-option. You wonder about the wisdom of that with a star QB who just got hurt and missed some time. Richardson missed most of his rookie year due to injury. Steichen is a great play-caller, but he’s got to find a way to keep his young star QB healthy.

The Bengals went to the Super Bowl in 2021 and looked like a team on the rise. They went 9-8 last year and are off to a 1-4 start this season. Yikes. The team that looked so good and so loaded now is a mess.

Cleveland went 11-6 last year, largely due to having the best defense in the league. The offense is really struggling right now. They have yet to total 300 yards of offense in a game. The defense is middle of the pack, a far cry from the group that looked so dominant a year ago. Rookie QB Jayden Daniels lit them up for 34 points. The Browns are off to a 1-4 start and haven’t played well at all.

Miami lost Tua Tagovailoa to a concussion a few weeks back. The high-flying team that scored 70 points in a game last year is long gone. Coming into this week, the Dolphins were the lowest scoring team in the league. Mike McDaniel might be an offensive genius, but he hasn’t been able to find any answers this season.

The Jets went 7-10 in 2023 with arguably the worst QB play in the league. This year they have Aaron Rodgers, but the results are a bit too familiar. The Jets are 2-3 and still struggling to score points. It would appear that Rodgers good buddy Nathaniel Hackett might not be the right answer for that team. Or any other NFL team. Robert Saleh’s seat gets a bit hotter each week.

The Rams were thought to be a playoff contender coming into the season. They have been decimated by injuries and sit at 1-4. Their only win was an unlikely comeback victory over the Niners. Sean McVay is a brilliant coach, but the best gameplans in the world don’t do you any good if you don’t have the players to make them work.

Think about coaches who are consistent winners. Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. He also hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. Sean McDermott has won 10 or more games the past five years. He hasn’t gotten Buffalo to the Super Bowl. McDermott hasn’t been able to get them to the AFC championship the past three years. John Harbaugh has been a great coach for the Ravens, but he only has two playoff wins in the past decade. He’s not been to the Super Bowl since 2012.

There is no doubt that the Eagles have issues. There is no doubt that Nick Sirianni has issues. It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming the worst and thinking about changes to the roster and coaching staff. That could happen, but be careful about wanting things to go bad so there will be changes. A lot of great coaching hires proved to be not so great. And players can be erratic as well. Deshaun Watson has been an epic disaster for the Browns. Aaron Rodgers hasn’t proven to be the savior the Jets hoped for. We’ll see how that turns out. The Eagles spent a lot on Bryce Huff, expecting a big year from him. The results have been a tad disappointing. Using the word “tad” makes me think of this great scene.

Airplane II is a highly underrated comedy.

I’m really curious to see how this season plays out. The Eagles have enough talent that they could get hot and build up a good record. They also have some flaws that could be problematic all year long.

The NFL was nuts on Sunday, with upsets and wild games all over the place. It was a good reminder to expect the unexpected. It was probably a good thing the Eagles were off. God only knows what kind of craziness they would have given us.

Sirianni better have some answers ready for his team this week. They need to get back on track in a hurry.

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