Game Review – PHI 29, CHI 14 – Offense
Posted: September 23rd, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 188 Comments »Short week because of MNF so this will be a shorter review as well. There is plenty to talk about, of course. The Eagles improved to 2-0 with a convincing win over the Bears. The Eagles weren’t perfect, but they were clearly the better team, despite starting a rookie QB and being guided by a rookie coach.
A few fans got worried when the offense came out in a spread look and Carson Wentz was throwing the ball on every down. Did Pederson turn into Andy Reid? No. Actually, it reminded me of a SNF game between the Raiders and Steelers from 2002. PIT had a dominant defense so the Raiders came out and Rich Gannon threw short pass after short pass. The Steelers had no answer. Gannon threw 64 passes for 403 yards and they beat PIT 30-17.
Pederson said after the game that he came out with that attack to get Wentz loose. Throwing the ball from an empty set gave him easier reads because the D was so spread out. Wentz got into a rhythm quickly and the crowd wasn’t a factor as the Eagles went right down the field for a FG. Smart move by Pederson. Wentz has been incredibly mature and level-headed so far, but playing on the road on MNF was a lot to put on the young guy. That initial drive worked like a charm and Wentz played another outstanding game.
The offense wasn’t great. The Eagles only gained 280 yards. They were just 3-15 on 3rd downs. They were just 3-6 in the Red Zone. None of those issues was a problem in this game because the defense shutdown the Bears so thoroughly. There were missed connections on some big plays that also cost the team.
Still, I love the fact the Eagles put the hammer down in the 2nd half, scoring 3 TDs and working the clock really well. They got the ball at the 5:09 mark in the 4th quarter and never gave it back. That’s the way you close out games. The offense has a long way to go, but they seem to come through in key situations. For 2 weeks in a row, they opened with points. They also scored going into halftime. Those are important possessions. The offense got the ball deep in CHI territory after an INT and scored a TD. That grew the lead, but also had emotional impact. The Bears never quit in this game, but they did get discouraged as the Eagles made critical plays in the 2nd half.
I thought the coaches did a very good job with this gameplan. They didn’t have Zach Ertz, who played 60 snaps in the opener. They didn’t want to overwork Ryan Mathews because he had a banged up ankle. That meant using Darren Sproles more at RB and Trey Burton more at TE. The coaches used the backups and used them aggressively. That shows the players you have confidence in them and helps their performance. I think it also sends a good message to the team. This isn’t about a few stars. This is about the Eagles, 1-53. Teams play better when they really buy into that mentality.
Pederson didn’t completely open up the playbook, but there were a couple of Red Zone plays I loved. The first was a play where Nelson Agholor came in motion and then turned and went right back where he started after the snap. Wentz flared the ball out to him and the DBs had vacated the area. Agholor got upfield quickly for a solid gain. Nothing too fancy, but it put a playmaker in space. That’s hard to to in the RZ.
And this below is a variation of Flip 90, my favorite play. Instead of faking to the FB on a dive play, Wentz fakes the jet sweep and flips to Mathews for the TD. Beautiful design. Haven’t seen that before.
Shot 10 – A 'Jet Flip' play; Jet Sweep action causes 2 Bears DBs to run w/ Agholor. Peters does a great job finding work; Mathews walks in pic.twitter.com/sDgeL98Wma
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 20, 2016
One complaint with Pederson was going for it on 4th down at the GL. I wrote this earlier in the week.
I like Doug Pederson being aggressive. I did think he was dumb to go for the TD vs the Bears. The Eagles were up 22-7 and at the goal line. That is a 15-point lead. Kicking the FG gives you a 3-possession lead. In the 4th quarter, you don’t think about points. You think about possessions. The smart move would have been to kick the FG and go up 25-7. If you fail, which the Eagles kinda almost did, you leave the other team with hope and time to catch up. Down 18, the clock becomes a huge factor and helps you win.
All that said, I do like Pederson rolling the dice. This isn’t a great team. Don’t be afraid to take some chances. It shows confidence in the offense and the defense. It also builds attitude and character in the team. That can be very valuable down the road as well as this year.
The gamble worked this time, but Pederson needs to be careful about being too aggressive. The risk-reward ratio has to make sense.
QB
Another strong performance from Carson Wentz. 21-34-190, with 1 TD and no picks. Played smart. CHI tried corner blitzes early and Wentz got the better of them. Made pre-snap read and adjustments throughout the game. Loved the touch pass he threw to Matthews for a 32-yard gain. That was a lob. Usually you only see veterans making a throw like that. Loved the 4th down throw to DGB. Good read and throw. No hesitation on the play. Put the ball right where it needed to go. Best throw of the night might have been the pass to Matthews late in the half. Ball hit him in the hands and he dropped a TD. Should have been a 35-yd strike. Instead, just a long incompletion.
There were some issues as well. Made some poor throws late in the half. Had Matthews open near the sideline and bounced passes to him. Those were arm throws. Needed to adjust his body and step into them. Had Agholor open for a long TD. Underthrew the ball. Agholor adjusted, but failed to catch it.
Everyone has talked about Wentz taking big hits. Tried to get cute as he got near the sideline and got floored a few times. Dumb. Getting an extra yard in Week 2 isn’t worth a huge blow to the franchise QB. You do that in Week 14 or in January for sure, but not now. The coaches are preaching safety to him. It is hard to change when your instincts tell you to go for it. I think Wentz will adjust over time.
RB
The run game struggled early. The OL wasn’t doing a great job and the backs weren’t finding whatever holes were there. Ryan Mathews was 9-32-2. That’s not a good total, especially considering he had a 30-yd run. That run featured some good blocking, but a lot of that was him being fast enough to get outside, but still having enough body control to turn upfield and move through traffic. That run helped set up his 2nd TD.
The coaches worked Darren Sproles more than Mathews. Sproles was 12-40 on the ground and also caught 2 passes. Not everyone liked the coaches using Sproles near the GL. There is logic to their thinking. Sproles is hard to locate in a big scrum and he does have a quick burst. If you get him a small hole, he should be able to hit it up in there. He got to the GL, but couldn’t get in. I do have an issue with Sproles. He seemed to be more interested in being elusive than just getting up the field on some plays. Didn’t work. He needs to get it n’ hit it. Making moves works for him as a PR, but not so much as a RB.
Wendell Smallwood was 2-16. He came close to breaking a long run on the play that went for 11 yds. I think the coaches will be getting him more and more involved. Really talented. Kenjon Barner was 2-2 on the ground.
WR
Jordan Matthews was once again the workhorse, going 6-71. He has shown the ability to get open short, intermediate and deep. Matthews has really turned into a good receiver. The one big issues is still the drops. He dropped the 35-yd TD before the half. Huge mistake. Wentz and the coaches still trust him. He had the most targets in the game and Matthews is who they went to on 4th down late in the game. He did catch that pass and get upfield for the 1st down.
Nelson Agholor was 4-42. He also had a chance for a big play when he put a double move on the CB and got him off balance. Agholor was wide open for a long TD. Wentz underthrew the ball. Agholor adjusted and went up for the ball. By that time, the CB had recovered and was there. Agholor was above him and should have made the catch. He didn’t. Agholor also had a ball thrown his way in the end zone. Went up and got his hands on it, but then dropped the ball. Real good throw from Wentz. Gotta make that play. Agholor should have drawn a PI call on a CB on a 3rd/20 throw that came his way, but the officials ignored tons of contact. Jon Gruden showed the highlight a few times and was shocked at no call.
DGB was 2-18. His highlight was catching a pass on 4th down to move the chains on the opening drive. Pederson said there were some RZ plays called for DGB, but things just didn’t work out. Josh Huff had a quiet game. He went in motion on some key plays. That motion served as a fake or something to distract the D. He did run the ball once for no gain.
TE
Brent Celek didn’t have a catch. He did have one wiped out by a penalty. He almost had a TD on the opening drive, but a terrific play by the DB kept the ball from getting to him. Celek did a good job as a blocker. He had the key block on Burton’s screen TD. Got a shot on a DB on Mathews long run and that helped slow the DB down in pursuit.
Trey Burton played the best game of his career. 5-49-1 as a receiver. Those were just easy plays, either. Ran impressive routes and showed the ability to make tough catches. You could tell Wentz trusted him. Burton lined up tight and also flexed out. He was all over the place. Showed good RAC ability on one play as he spun away from the tackler and moved upfield. Could be a valuable role player this year.
Shot 4 – Another big time throw from Wentz with a defender bearing down. You have to love his poise in the pocket through two starts #Eagles pic.twitter.com/RaWFhmjs2A
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 20, 2016
OL
Up and down game. The big guys kept Wentz clean for the most part, but weren’t having much luck in the run game. Jason Kelce had some really bad lowlights. There was one play where the DL just put him on skates and drove Kelce straight back to Wentz. He got called for a couple of penalties. That said, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. His lowlights were bad, but he also had some good blocks. I thought he was solid after halftime.
Jason Peters had a holding call on a run play (major no-no) and got beaten for a sack. Willie Young went hard inside and caught Peters off-guard. Peters had some real good run blocks. He was out in front on Mathews 2nd TD. He actually sealed the left side on the first one without even meaning to do it.
I thought Allen Barbre once again was the better of the two OGs. Brandon Brooks struggled with Akiem Hicks on some plays. Lane Johnson had a solid game.
Matt Tobin and Stefen Wisniewski played as extra blockers. They helped the run game come alive in the 2nd half.
Gamebook
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[…] Tommy Lawlor Short week because of MNF so this will be a shorter review as well. There is plenty to talk about, […]
Love the Trey Burton play. So quick off the line and gets right past the LB. Is he better than Ertz?
No. he is not better than Ertz.
No, but he’ll be a great complimentary player here for a while.
Burton is undoubtedly better in the open field with the ball and probably comparable in terms of hands and route running, but, in every other measure Ertz is superior. The big difference, of course, is height.
Not better than Ertz, different than Ertz,,, I think we will see those two on the Field together a lot…, Burton, Ertz, Celek, Sproles are not easy MATCHUPS for LB’s and Safeties
That is sexy. Lovin our squad
No. Ertz and Burton are basically lesser versions of Gronk and Hernandez, respectively.
Posted this is the last thread regarding the 4th and goal:
The not talked about benefit of our tendency to go for it on 4th,
against teams that we know can’t stop it, is that it puts it on tape
that we might actually do it. It makes the hard count actually effective
in the future when we need it, as opposed to all the teams that go out
there and fake it when everyone in the stadium knows it’s not going to
happen.
Great point also Sturgis was hurting too and if we didnt make it the Bears O would have had to drive the length of the field while still being down 2 scores
Yeah, and the 2 scores lingo sounds more precarious than it was, they would have specifically needed 2 touchdowns an extra point and a 2 pt conversion just to tie, the first drive being 98 or 99 yards. If all that actually happened, Doug would get hammered by the media for his decision. But the real failure would be his role in the team self destructing in the final minutes of the game, not one single decision.
Upvote for solid point made.
Remember how Chip would go for it on 4th all the time? Me either.
Hard counts aren’t effective on goalline. You can’t earn a first down with one. At best you gain a couple feet and if you jump you go back 5 yards.
any benefit to drawing the D offsides, but getting the play off anyway? you end up with a free play – get the TD, you decline the penalty. no TD? accept the penalty and try again.
i’m sure its much, much harder to pull that off in a real game situation, though. i doubt it would be terribly useful.
General football theory is:
In the shadow of your own goalline, hard count your ass off, little to lose, and high upside of getting out of being backed up.
On the goalline, it should always be on first or second sound (to keep them honest). The downside of a false start outweighs any minimal gain or the possibility of a free play.
Good points all, but we’re still a team that is (not looking it up) 100% on 4th down conversions and is perceived as going for it fairly regularly. That perception will pay off at some point this year.
Very good analysis Tommy. I agree the offense and Wentz was ok, bit not great. Kid plays with so much poise he looks better than his numbers say he was. Something to keep in mind.
So far an excellent defense against a couple of hapless offenses have helped the O go. Likely a different story against the Steelers.
OT: So far it appears that Eric Rowe has yet to record a defensive/special teams statistic for the Patriots thus far.
That’s because he’s been inactive on game days.
I’d like to see the O-line, and especially the center, get the run blocking tightened up. I’m getting a little tired of seeing D-lineman break through the middle of the line before our RBs can get rolling.
I’d like to see a play action bomb to start the game on Sunday. That should help running the ball the rest of the game
I think there’s a better than 50% chance that this will happen within the first three plays.
Is that you, Andy?
I actually laughed out loud at that one.
double reverse flea flicker.
Read option, Carson keeps and slides perfectly after an 18yd gain.
If Carson keeps it and gashes the defense with a big run, it could help create some extra space for the RB’s, but I don’t want to see that unless Wentz is ready to execute a slide and avoid a hit at the end of The play
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bad News: Steelers Run defense is really Stingy
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good news: Average secondary, average pass rush that we can hopefully take advantage of in the passing game… We need some Big plays to counter the big Plays down field that Rothlisberger will produce..
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I think this is the week, we unleash DGB and send him Deep!
NO NO NO NO NO NO.
I don’t want Carson participating in that low brow stuff.
Probably not going to happen this week. Steelers have only allowed 4 rushing first downs and 101 yards. 8th best YPC allowed.
Let’s hope we can buck that trend and get 200 on the ground.
I think the Eagles are going to make a big statement in this game.
I am sure they hear about the two weak opponents we defeated and the league has put asterisks next to our W’s.
I bet the Eagles come out and dominate both sides of the ball and take Williams and Brown out of the equation.
Patriots 13.5 wins, over or under?
After these 3 games it’s like…how did they ever lose with Brady and Gronk? Clearly they aren’t any good it turns out 😀
If they win next week again they might go 15-1.
I don’t think the Bills will beat them no matter who is QB, so I wouldn’t put much stock in a win.
That one loss is against the Eagles, right?
Damn that is a good line VegasEagle.
Matt Barkley got called up from the Bears practice squad.
How does that guy have PS eligibility?
They changed the rules this year. You can have 2 vets on PS.
Seems disingenuous to call him a vet.
…or a QB
He is so bad, that they made an excemption for Barkley, and no team cared enough to oppose
I thought when Pederson came out throwing he was doing what Andy Reid did all the time … do the opposite of what he thinks the defense is expecting. Everyone expected the Eagles to run the ball, so he came out throwing. This way of thinking led Reid to throwing on 3rd and inches : /
I thought Reid’s pass-happy tendencies were self-perpetuating. He passed so many times when runs would have been a change-up, that he and his offense were weak at trying to run on short yardage pickups. Nice avatar.
FWIW the Eagles had a 99.3% chance of winning if they kicked to go up 3 scores or 99.2% if they went for it per Barnwell. With odds that close, I’m OK with Pederson making a “gut” decision to go for it
And I’m sure he had that in his mind all the way.
“There’s only a 00.1″ difference in expected value for these two outcomes, so I’m gonna go for it!”
Point is he made what he thought was the right move, people (Tommy) have harped on him for clearly making the wrong call. In actuality, neither decision would have had much of an influence towards winning or losing the game.
I think he said in the PC that if they didn’t score, the Bears still had 99 yards to go. That’s why I think it was the right move.
yeah, I liked the call, slightly riskier, but the red zone has been a problem, Pederson has been aggressive and it’s been paying off, the team is getting a swagger to it.
because he took statistics class with Mang-er
Pretty sure it was Mang’s alter ego, Mr. L’Hôpital
My friends Bernoulli and Bayes would like a word with you.
he must have used Common Core to figure that out.
I think most people get that, they just prefer in general to have the X possession lead. The other consideration is that part of the reason it was inconsequential was the game situation (score/time left), but people wonder if he will be too aggressive when the game situation is different.
hard to tell, but at least we know in similar-ish situations where it was 4th down and pretty close to the end zone , 4th-goal chicago 7, 4th-7 chicago 11 but the game was close with lots of time left, he took the easy field goals.
So what we know that regardless of his decision, failure at either left us with a lead of 2 touchdowns, an extra point kick and a 2 point conversion, and that isn’t a lose-state, that is over-time. Basically next to no risk on the line.
Success for going for it makes the lead 3 TD’s, 2 extra point kicks, and a 2pt conversion.
Success for a FG makes it 2 TD’s, an extra point kick, a 2 point conversion, and a FG.
The part nobody is too sure of is comparing the odds of success of going for it vs FG. Because Sturgis was battling..cramps I think it was? I don’t think either option was a sure thing, so he went aggressive.
The way our defense was playing especially at that point in the game, even if we don’t convert, it’s unlikely that the Bears were going to march all the way down field, especially when we completely shutdown Alshon Jeffries in the second half
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Kevin White was pretty much useless
And Brian Hoyer at QB. Schwartz was probably hoping we wouldn’t convert just to have the chance at Teeing off on Hoyer from the 1 yard line.
https://giphy.com/gifs/yznEXxtq7wQlG
It’s on that big chart he carries.
That’s why Chip’s was so small
Pederson said earlier this week that much of his fourth down decision making is based on math like this. So yes, he is in fact looking at the numbers.
Sturgis had missed an extra point and appeared injured. That was also weighed in when balancing risks.
Yeah, I thought it was pretty obvious at the time.
Im sure the defense having a pretty dominant game also factored into his decision to go for it
Any chance that Kelce changed cleats at halftime or something?
Strong possibility. Part of the issue was clearly a lack of footing early. Schwartz had mentioned earlier in the week having to change cleats.
I thought their starting NT got hurt in the 2nd half and stopped playing, maybe that had something to do with it
film review showed him specifically having plenty of success against Goldman, we just notice the glaring mistakes more
I’d tend to agree.
Been saying Burton is the man, sad he’s been wasted on teams. Should have started him instead of gronk this week. Also put a lot of stock in Texans, it’s clear that Brock is stealing more money than chase is.
Yep Gronk pretty much assured an L this week for me in a league.
ok all you people (ok it was just 1-2) that said it’s Brady not Belicheck please apologize.
Let’s see him go deep in the playoffs without Brady. No one said he wasn’t maybe the best coach of all time!
Let’s not.
I haven’t seen anyone this dominant in a sport since Lance Armstrong.
So you think Bill is running a pill mill in the locker room?
I think it might be naive at this point to think that that’s the only form of cheating going on in NE.
consequences? where?
I think the unrelenting prosecution of TB for his foolhardy tantrums re: deflategate was 30 billionaires beating down on one. I have no problem with it, but I suspect the punishment was for a laundry list of offenses, not simply under-inflated balls…or lying about it. Other than that, I think you’re right.
maybe he should run in 2020
Given how dispassionate bellicheat is, he’s probably, as we speak, lining up some gonzo trade deal for TB. He’ll never be worth more than he is today, and on another team he might be effective…but possibly not. He could go to the franchise that started his HC career off (in unspectacular fashion), and probably get their #1’s for the next 3 years.
Teddy Bridgewater?
Personally I hated the libs, think he’ll need to work on touch passing but could be worse, he could be Brock osweiler
Make The Eagles Great Again?
You know what I noticed about Doug Pederson’s Eagles? No Mexicans.
IDK but he did cut a lot of people, many of whom were black. Probably racist.
Duh
real coversation:
Roommate: “You know how i can tell the black players from the white players”
Me: “How?”
Roommate: “By their arms, it’s pretty easy to tell.”
Me: “…..wait was that a joke?”
**hysterical laughter while under severe influence**
Hate the libs?
yeah, what?
Very Ann Coulterish, no?
He’s talking about lobs, I think. The one I didn’t like was the lob to the sideline on the wheel route/checkoff.
Would of preferred more zip on that one.
Am I mistaken that the Eagles went sans huddle every time the defense was in a favorable personnel grouping?
Pederson said he opened in no huddle, no back set because they saw something in game film of how the Bears defended that formation that The Eagles thought they could take advantage of, which is Solid scouting by the Eagles coaches because it worked pretty well, and Wentz was able to handle it
Though i could of swore they upped tempo in both drives killed by holding.
You could be right about the No Huddle, but Im speaking more so about Pederson seeing something in how the Bears defended the No Runningback set that we could take advantage of…
Remember when we had a center for a couple of games, Nick Cole is the name I think, who had never played the position before and kept hiking the ball into his own ass?
Just think if we had been able to team him up with Mark Sanchez?
Would be a good start to the all-buttfumble team.
now thats a dream…… errr wait.
Cole was a C.
Max Jean Gilles? Aka the first active NFL player to ever need lap band surgery.
He wore max jeans.
ah . . . the sleep-deprivation inspired genius of an already great writer.
Max “Lap Band” Jean Gilles…
He’s got nothing on me as I wore Toughskins as a youth.
You mean the year we lost to _______ in back to back ga…… wait what are we talking about here?
Pretty sure he played center for 2-3 seasons full time after atealing Hank’s job.
I think you’re thinking of Jamaal Jackson.
No way man. Cole. Think he was before Jackson. Also played RG. I rember a story about him eating jelly beans for dehydration in college or aome such, and the eagles did something a little more complex for him here. Was it the pickle juice 2 game oe was that the pickle juice game?
just gonna leave this here for your enjoyment:
Former Giants running back Tiki Barber says he never suffered from similar indignities. But he did have to endure another form of cruelty under the pile.
“Jeremiah Trotter was pretty fearsome when he was with the Eagles,” says Barber, who now hosts Tiki and Tierney on CBS Sports Radio. “He hit so hard, and had a hard head. But he used to tickle me in the pile. He was like, ‘I can’t knock it out of your hands, I’m going to tickle you.'”
lol, the idea of Trotter tickling someone… That’s a damn treat.
The penalty call would be made this way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LNJnHPUlaI
never gets old
I was LoLing before i pressed play. Well done sir.
Hrmmn
“Wentz and the coaches still trust him.” — Do they have a choice? See that girl at the end of the bar? She’s the hottest one in this place! (of course, it’s 3am, everyone is drunk and she’s the last female in the bar)
I learned many years ago, that woman -the straggler at the bar -is looking to take you home. Like Doug Peterson, she’s a goddam closer.
and kill you Dexter style
Have to respect that. Id imagine im not the only one who has been the prey of these hunters on a couple occasions.
does she have a broken heal?
I used to play keyboards in club bands. We’d be looking at hot women all night, or so it appeared, until they turned the house lights on at around a quarter to two. Then, suddenly, they looked kind of scary.
Whoah! Everyone just got a WHOLE lot uglier!
That just means it’s time for one more shot, then they start lookin’ fine.
That seemed to be the prevailing opinion.
Don’t women say the same thing about the guys in the band?
Kelce has had issues, but I wonder how much the shitty field affected his rollerblading prowess.
I also am getting tired of the useless plays, (leaguewide), where you try to “get someone the ball in space”. This especially applies to Josh Huff, Percy Harvin, & Cordarrelle Patterson.
Except that Royal was really good doing that
Those are generally low risk/high reward plays. Bubble screens, swing passes, stuff like that. Doesn’t really bother me any more than 2 yards and a cloud of dust of 2nd and 7.
But they weren’t just using the play to get someone the ball in space. On Mathews 2nd TD run, they faked the jet sweep to Huff and Mathews had a walk-in TD. Its one thing to run the play for the sake of it, but its even better when you use it to set up a play that goes the opposite way when the defense thinks you are running the same play again.
Same field for the other 21 guys.
And I 100% agree on low IQ turds like Huff, Harvin, and Patterson being a waste of space.
Love the site, I’m a big fan. Are my eyes deceiving me or Did Wentz not look like the best player by miles on the field these last 2 games? Can he keep it up? and if so……Is this team a serious threat in January? Or will all our fears come to fruition and our wideouts drop the ball!
Dare to dream, I guess. Seems like right now we’re considered a middle tier team, up from a bottom tier team as we were widely considered to be before the season began.
Most of the different Kelce Analysis for the Bears game says that Kelce actually had a solid game, which goes to what I talked about yesterday in the problem with how fans and media view OL play, and their expectations of what a good game is…. If the offense runs 70 plays, and an OL gets beat 5 times, that doesn’t mean he was a disaster, even tho most of what the fans see and remember are his mistakes,
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Last year certainly was a down year for Kelce, and he will always give up some size to the beefy NT’s, but it sounds like Kelce play hasn’t been anywhere as bad as the picture painted by fans and media so far in the first two games of the season… really good OL will get beat from time to time, and they will make their share of mistakes, I know we don’t like to hear it, but the other team often also has some talent on the DL that will win their share of Battles… It’s like Jason Peters, if he gives up one sack, and has one holding penalty on Sunday, generally fans will call that a bad game and dwell on the few mistakes. Just because a hall of fame Tackle doesn’t dominate 100% of the plays, doesn’t Neccessarily mean his play is in drastic decline
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Reicht also tried to explain how Kelce is extremely valuable in ways that we can’t see or evaluate, specifically his football brain is said to be brilliant at diagnosing the defense, and he brings a confident calming presence that has been good for the Kid
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I hope Kelce has a big season that makes us forget about last years down yeàr, but so far, my understanding is that film review indicates that he has been much better than the Kelce has been horrible narrative thrown around the first two weeks… fundamentally, im not sure it’s too common to see an offense put up close to 30pts a game, with an Incompetant center who gets beat like a drum on every play like some people are pretending, even with the benefit of a defense forcing turnovers
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If you center really gets dominated throughout the entire game, it would be very difficult to overcome that and put up points,,, EDDIE Goldman is a tough NT matchup, and besides a handful of bad plays, my understanding is Kelce had some really bright moments against him on Monday
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Hopefully he cuts down the glaring mistakes and plays so well that it’s easy for everyone to see
Yeah, I think we’re getting a little carried away about Kelce.
Nope! I’m not carried anywhere near far enough with him yet.
I can’t remember how Peyton was as a rookie. I know his stats, but was he already showing a Wentz level command of the offense at the line of scrimmage when Manning was a rookie?
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What Wentz does at The line of scrimmage blows my mind. peyton Manning became a master at using every bit of the play clock to force the defense to show their hand, and then change to a play that can take advantage of what the defense was going to throw at him…. is it me, or does it seem like Wentz is already showing an ability to get the defense to show their hand, mostly using his cadence and taking advantage of the entire playclock??… It’s not every day that you see a QB this early in his career, already be able to go toe toe with opposing defensive coordinators Horton, and Fangio, in a sort of mental chess at the line of scrimmage…. The Browns and Bears DONT have the greatest defenses, but they both have very experienced defensive coordinators who have NOT been able to confuse the kid enough to shut him down..
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BTW, we can say it’s “Just The Browns”. But Wentz clearly did better against the Browns than veteran Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco performed against the Browns in week two with his 250 yards, 2TDs, 2 INTs and a worse completipn percentage than Wentz,,, it’s just the Browns, but Joe Haden is elite, and Wentz success did not come because he avoided Haden, he went right after him as if he was any average corner
I remember Manning throwing a ton of picks.
Yeah that’s what I remember too.. I can’t remember what he was like at the line of scrimmage (presnap) as a rookie
As a rookie, Peyton Manning’s OC was Tom Moore and his QBC was Bruce Arians.
Moore called in 3 plays to Manning, who’d then scan the defense at the LOS, pick one of the three plays, and call it out (in whatever code the Colts were using).
By Y-2, Moore was merely calling in the offensive concept he wanted used on a particular down.
Manning then had plenty of time at the LOS to decide which play fit the concept and looked best against the defense he saw.
seemed like Wentz didn’t even look DGB’s was on some of the RZ plays Doug said were called for DGB.. On the TD fade that Agholar couldn’t come down with Agholar was on The right side of the field. And DGB was on the left side, and you can easily see that Carson DIDNT even look to DGB, he was looking to the Right (Agholars side) the whole time.
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This week, I hope Carson makes it a Real poïnt to look DGB’s way in the Redzone. We NEED TD’s this week, FG’s ARENT going to cut against the steelers offense
Yeah, at times he locks in on a target.
This could be an interesting week in that we could see the Steelers get a nice lead and put Wentz in a position where he has to play from behind and try to throw our way back in this game which is a test he hasn’t faced yet. Fortunately it’s not like he will face a VON Miller caliber pass rush, and the Steelers secondary is not an elite unit, but he probably won’t get much help from our run game against the physical stout run defense…
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good News, the Steelers haven’t won in Philly in Decades, I think they may have never won in philly actually. last time they came here, we beat them led by a defense that sacked Big Ben 8 times. We will need a similar performance from our pass rush if we are too pull off this upset
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No Eagle coach has ever started 3-0? Either the steelers get their first win in Philly, or we get the first Eagle HC to start 3-0, something has to give,,
Steelers haven’t won in Philly since 1966. 0 for their last 8 trips. I’m just hoping we can stay competitive in this game. Excited and nervous to see it played out. Its going to suck watching the game with my girlfriend. She is from Pittsburgh and is going to annoy me when she is cheering for Pitt.
Unfortunately they are getting Marcus Wheaton back for tbis game…. Hopefully Rodney McLeod lays the wood on Antonio Brown. Will Big Ben be the first QB to get out of a game against the Jim Schwartz eagle defense healthy? We have to rough him up. If we can’t hit him, things could get ugly
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Hopefully jordan and Nelson got their drops out of their system in games that we were able to win. they have to capitalize on every opportunity to come their way if we are to succeed in this step up in competition..
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HAVE to convert in the redzone, FGs won’t cut it this week.
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Hopefully the special teams can pull a few big plays out of their ass this week. we can’t łet Deangelo Williams kill us on the ground, and let Antonio kill us thru the air. We need to keep at least one of those two in check
I think getting hits on Ben early and often is the key to winning this game. If Ben is standing back there like RGIII was, we’re gonna get killed. I love Matthews as a WR, but man, he seems to drop the ball at the worst time! Hope he can eventually fix that. Remember the announcer mention that he is about average with his drop-rate, they just come at the worst time. So true!
Been pleasantly surprised with Nelson. I know he had those drops, but he needed to take a big step forward this year. It seems to be clicking for him, he just needs to clean up the drops as well.
And like you said, need TDs in the red zone, not FGs. That won’t cut it against the elite teams.
The Steelers O-line, outside of DeCastro is an overrated set of has-beens and never-was type guys. Hopefully there are some shots on Ben.
That is really my main hope to win this game: Cox, Curry & Graham put a hurtin on Ben. Wentz could come out and kill it again, but I’m not expecting that to happen. If its a shootout, that definitely favors Pitt.
looking for Jordan Hicks to make a big time play this week. It’s a big game, and we need our big time players to shine.
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I also hope to see our edge rushers capitalize on Villanueva still being somewhat yoûng in his transition to Left Tackle. BG, Curry, Barwin, Logan, Cox, we will need all hands on deck this week
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need our BIGTIME Safety tandem to be a Force this week
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Thinking the Physicality of Stephan Tulloch can also give us a boost against their physical run game.
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As for Offense, put Burton and Sproles on the field together, and throw to the one that Ryan Shazier ISNT matched up against. I’d try to pick on aggrssive safety Mike Mitchell
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Everytime the Steelers go to Single high safety, Wentz needs to go deep to DGB, Jordan, or Nelson
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Hoping we can compensate for the steelers having a stout run defense, by throwing to our RBs. Gotta find a way for the RB to contribute
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this isn’t the game to start turning the ball over. We need to continue our ball security if we are going to give ourselves a chance to win this week
RT has been really good in pass protection so far this season.
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Pouncey isnt a bad center by any stretch of the imagination.
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But we faced better Tackles in Joe Thomas, and better Guards in all pro Sitton and kyle long from the Bears
Yeah it’s certainly promising to see the way Nelson is playing so far this season, especially with the negativity sorrounding his play in training camp/preseason. hopefully he can continue to improve with time, because the kid has some real ability. not just the plays he has made, but he has gotten a lot of nice seperation in plays where the ball HASNT come his way. specifically, he burned joe Haden deep but didn’t get the ball. But that’s what made them go back to Nelson taking Haden deep, and he was able to capitalize on it and make a big play. Nelson still has plenty of ceiling to grow into, but I think it really helps that he has had some success early and build up some confidence especially since so much negativity was sorrounding his play in the summer
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Im Convinced Jordan Mathews is going to have a Monster season. It is HUGE that this coaching staff has been able to turn Jordan into a guy that can also play outside WR so we no longer have to take him off the field, unlike Chip who only played Jordan in the slot and took him off the field in two WR sets. Allegedly Jordan had a great summer catching everything that came his way, This is still just the beginning of his 3rd season, hopefully he can show a little more growth, specifically cutting down on the drops, because if he can do that, I see a 1200 year season for Jordan, even tho we will spread the ball around.
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Im a big Bradford fan, and I expected him to have a career year for us this year, but I think Carson is actually good for our WRs, because it seems like he is more willing to trust the WR’s and throw the ball up giving them a chance to make a play. think he is more willing to try and throw Agholar open where as Braford only trusted Jordan, Ertz and Maybe Sproles enough to consistently throw them open. think Wentz is more willing to trust All our WRs and give them all a chance to make a play even if they aren’t wide open when he throws the ball, and so far it seems like the WRs have rewarded Wentz’s trust making a play (for the most part)
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The good thing, is that Nelson, DGB, and Jordan are still young enough to where they have more growing and improving to do, and all 3 have the legit Talent to become quality NFL WR’s., it also looks like we have a much better WR coach trusted to develope these talented kids, than the clown who Chip hired to coach our WR’s…. it’s not a given, but Jordan, Nelson and DGB all have a high enough ceiling where they have a chance to grow into our long term starting WR’s for years to come, if they ever realize their full potential
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Think Burton will prove to be our secret weapon,.. The tandem of Ertz, Burton, Celek, and Sproles are not easy match ups for most Linebackers and safeties.At Least One of those players should have a favorable match up each week.
It is nice to have Wentz grow with Matthews, Nelson & DGB since all 4 are pretty young. I wasn’t sold on Bradford coming in to the season, I was going to root for him but his play is uninspiring. Love the fact that Wentz takes his chances downfield, that was missing last year, but Wentz is smart with it. He doesn’t throw into double coverage much, or if he does, he puts the ball in a place only his WR can go get it.
I’m excited to get Ertz back to see some 3 TE sets with 3 actual TEs on the field. Think that would be a huge advantage for us. D brings in LBers and we throw it on them, D brings in CBs and we run it on them. It will be hard to stop that I think.
Allegedly Jordan had a great summer catching everything that came his way.
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You mean while he stood on the sidelines letting his knee mend?
I was living in Pittsburgh at the time, and the next day I wore my Eagles jersey to work (downtown). No one would even look at me on the train.
Almost like he is a rookie…but not really.
OMG the patriots 3rd string QB got hurt last night, he needs surgery on his thumb. If JimmyG can’t play next week, the Pats will have to play with Edleman at QB or someone they pick up
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Bellichek can beat Rex Ryan with Julian Edleman at QB, Rex needs to be fired on the spot, and never allowed to talk trash again,
When you say “Rumor” do you mean “what the coaches told reporters”?
multiple verbal upvotes
Coaches came out and said that Mathews hurt his ankle that’s why Sproles got the bulk of the carries against the Bears.
Thank you sir
I think Belichick will start himself at QB and still beat Buffalo.
Time for Chase to go to NE.
Washington for a 2nd rounder.
Confirmed what you saw, went and looked back at the coaches tape. My only thought was that DGB might have been the first option in the play call, but he was all alone on his side of the field with 2 DB’s in coverage, while Ags was on the side with J-Matt in the slot, single man coverage, J-Matt took his guy inside by running a slant leaving Ags all alone with Porter (who made a heck of a play). Wentz probably started his progression pre-snap.
Friday. Time for a smile.
http://www.dailynorseman.com/2016/9/22/13025452/rick-spielman-kneeded-some-help
i couldn’t even get through that. it was awful
I read the whole thing, got aggravated waiting for it to make me smile.
Fun fact:
Eli Manning is the only starting QB in the NFCE to beat a team that had a winning record. And, from a quick scan, that last happened in 2014.
Seriously? Damn!
Well there are two guy who’ve only had two starts and Kirk Cousins. So….
Shhh! Your context is ruining my fun fact.
You must be easily amused.
That was a very Chippian response. You make a point and then pause, so…
I must disagree a bit with your interpretation of the way the Eagles came out throwing in the Bears game. I think that Peterson was a bit ingenuous when he said the reason was to relax Wentz. While that may have been a side benefit, the primary purpose was more likely that he had hoped to take advantage of the Bears weak secondary. With the Bears strong front seven I think the idea was to stay out of the middle and get our receivers in space outside the hash marks. I don’t think this strategy was too successful because, while the passes were completed, the Eagles were getting precious little YAC. The initial drive fizzled after one incompletion to Celek and they had to settle for a field goal. The Eagles could not recover once the offense was out of phase and only scored 9 points in the first half.
While the strategy didn’t work it did make good sense. But more importantly I was impressed that Peterson had the courage and trust in Wentz to open up pass, pass, pass … with a rookie QB. I bet that was the last thing the Bears expected. Kelly was supposed to be the one with his cujones filling the wheelbarrow. But no, it’s unassuming Doug Peterson.,
Wotked pretty well to me.
Is kind of funny this far Doug has seemed to be more like Kelly was advertised than Kelly ever was.
Kelly tried some stuff early on, but that disappeared as time went on. He tried the surprise 2-point conversion once, and when it failed due to poor execution, that was it — never saw it again. That, and other things like that, was disappointing. He seemed creative early on but it got worse as time went on.
He was creative in his first preseason. Remeber the 4 te set? Never made it to regular season.
Pederson*
I noticed the same thing, that when we got off schedule with the down and distance we rarely were able to make it up. I wonder if that is where it will become evident that this team still needs work on the offensive side.
That’s been true for the last couple years though. One holding penalty—even on 1st down—and the drive was over.
Told ya
Was listening to Mike Lombardi on Bill Simmons’ podcast today. Bill asked if Carson Wentz is legit. Mike’s response: “No, most of his throws have been behind the line of scrimmage.”
Great analysis.
Is that even accurate?
By definition, yes. You can’t throw it unless you’re behind the line of scrimmage.
Here’s one possible answer. Air yards is the % of a QB’s total yards that were, well, in the air.
According to the fairly shaky stats at this site, he’s 22nd in the league.
Sam Bradford is 32nd! Big surprise there…
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/quarterback-air-yards/2016/
That quote can’t be correct..right?
Remember Ellis Hobbs?
Question for Tommy …….. Not sure the specifics of the illegal formation flag the eagles committed earlier in game (Wr covering TE was explained) but…. if you look back on the game with about 4 mins left in 3rd quarter on the wendell smallwood 8 yard run. Wentz fixes the formation just before the play, did that adjustment he made prevent another flag? Pretty amazing if that’s the case, check it out if you can and let us know if he’s really that detailed. Thanks !!