Pressure
Posted: October 14th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 123 Comments »
The Panthers sacked Carson Wentz three times and he only threw 30 passes. Cam Newton threw 52 passes and the Eagles sacked him just twice. The pass to sack ratio there favors Carolina by a wide margin. Just looking at the stats, you would conclude the Panthers D-line was better on Thursday night.
That’s not the case at all.
Carolina didn’t get much pressure early in the game so they began to blitz. Two of their sacks came from a LB and a CB. That tells you they were aggressive and creative in getting pressure.
The Eagles didn’t blitz much. They didn’t have to. The D-line consistently got good push. They didn’t have free runners landing highlight hits on Newton all night long, but they affected him with pressure. Newton threw 52 passes and only got 239 yards. That is…bad. Consider that in the previous game, Newton threw 33 passes and had 355 yards.
The pressure generated by the Eagles did two big things. First, it sped him up. The Panthers love to throw the ball downfield. They couldn’t do that with the Eagles DL getting regular pressure on Newton. Suddenly he was throwing the ball to RBs and TEs in the flat. Rookie Christian McCaffrey had 10 catches for 56 yards.
The other thing pressure did was make Newton uncomfortable. That led to some poor decisions and to sloppy mechanics. There was a play late in the game when Newton did try to go deep to McCaffrey. Pressure on the play took away his chance to step into the throw and the pass landed a few yards out of bounds. There was a play late in the game where Rasul Douglas should have had an INT. That happened because Derek Barnett hit Newton as he threw. He got rushed into making a decision and also made a poor throw.
Go back to last week. The Cardinals got into several 3rd & longs. Each time, Carson Palmer dropped back and immediately dumped the ball off to an underneath receiver. Those were complete give-up plays. There is nothing wrong with a screen or draw in those situations, but Palmer couldn’t wait to get rid of the ball. The reputation of the Eagles DL caused problems. They got some pressure in the game, but just the fear of them affected the Arizona offense.
That’s impressive.
The Giants built their whole gameplan around avoiding the Eagles rush. They were throwing the ball about as fast as you’ll ever see.
The best part of all this is that the Eagles don’t just rush the passer. They are 2nd in the NFL in run defense right now (and tops in the NFC). The D-line has been tremendous against the run this season. Vinny Curry has been especially outstanding. The DTs eat up blocks and also make plays. Tim Jernigan has 6 TFLs already.
Good run defense makes a huge difference. It makes offenses one-dimensional and puts pressure on the QB to get everything done through the air. When that happens, the Eagles can attack the QB and put pressure on him. All the negative plays have led to lots of long yardage situations. That’s when teams get scared and just dump the ball off. The Eagles have done a great job this year of playing the sticks. They attack the ball and keep the receiver short of the line to get, which leads to punting situations.
All of this starts with the front four…or should I say the front eight. The starters are Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan and Vinny Curry. They play most of the reps. But you can’t ignore Chris Long, Beau Allen, Justin Hamilton, Elijah Qualls, Derek Barnett and Steven Means. Those guys all combine to get the job done. Destiny Vaeao played in the opener before getting hurt.
Jim Schwartz plays a lot of guys up front and isn’t afraid to play backups in key situations. He rolls his guys in and out, always trying to keep his players as fresh as possible. Everyone contributes. Allen had a sack and TFL last week. Long had a strip sack in Los Angeles. Hamilton got pressure on multiple plays on Thursday night and even got half a sack.
You can debate whether the DL wore down last year. That should not be the case this season.
This line still has a ways to go to get to the level they want to be at. Right now they are getting the job done, but this group of players isn’t satisfied with that. They want to be great. We’ll have to wait and see if that happens. With guys like Cox and Graham, anything is possible.
_
I somehow caught ‘undisputed’ on my youtube auto-play continuum. What a horribly inauthentic show. Predicated on vitriolic stupidity to draw in viewers of course, but its sort of almost comical to see Skip Bayless screaming at the top of his lungs, that ‘Carson Wentz is not in Dak Prescotts league’. Haha.
Yeah, I don’t fool with that nonsense. Bayless is the worst kind of troll and hopefully catches some hands soon.
Huh? I am not familiar with that expression (dane here). 🙂
To catch hands is defined as getting slapped or punched.
Oh. Ha. Ya. I’d like it to be Shannon Sharpe, actually. Looks like he is built for the job.
I’d find it funnier if we make the Super Bowl at some point and a random Eagles fan does it at an outdoor broadcasting location. Nothing too injurious, just a quick smack in the mouth as punishment for his foul words.
I’m glad he’s a cowboys fan.
How could he be anything else..
The louder you scream it the more true it becomes.
There are too many people in this world whose actions indicate the believe that statement to be unironically true.
The more one types in CAPS the more true it seems to become.
Don’t watch the undisputed if you value your brain cells.
Not in his league? hilarious
I’d really like to see the sack total go up (and I think it will starting on Monday night when Darby is back), but the pressure is great. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen this team collectively play the run that well.
Is there a timetable for Darby to be back on the field, like in 10 days? I heard he can resume practice but are we sure that he will practice and will play?
https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/eagles-ronald-darby-targeting-week-6-return/
Yup. The full 6 weeks, rather than the early 4, of “4 to 6 weeks” gets him back vs. Washington.
He was still walking with a limp on Wednesday when the team checked into the hotel.
unacceptable. Call out the medical / training staff for a public shaming.
Haha. We need Darby back, no doubt.
If I was Doug… or if I was Schwartz… I might keep the current starters against Washington. I might keep Darby out of a lot of action until the following week when San Francisco comes to town.
Not as tough a competitor. Stakes are not as high in the game as with a division opponent. An extra week overall.
That certainly works as long as we don’t choke the game.
Well, it’s a big game against DC. Darby’s a huge talent. If he’s ready, he’s the guy.
Division games at home should be a win even if they bring out an active roster of 46 pensioners. There is regional pride on the line with this game. It is the pure definition of must win!
Idk, if we are going to keep him out for the game against the Skins we should probably keep him out for the game against the 9ers to play it very safe.
We want him at 100% for the push for home field advantage and playoffs.
In the presser Doug said he might not practice this upcoming week. I’d guess he’ll be back for the game against Denver. I know the 4-6 week timetable was optimistic, I’ve seen folks say it’s more like 8 weeks.
What is the consesus on Hamilton? Solid back up or someone with potential going forward?
Yes. Similar to Allen. Use him for as long as you can on rookie wages and then get another guy.
He’s got guns and slips
Guard-center gaps and hits.
While Cox takes two,
Jernigan too,
He’s an adequate fit.
ha
Iambic Pentameter. Wealth of knowledge around here. 🙂
Don’t think it’s pentameter or iambic, just verse.
Parody verse, yes. 0:43
https://youtu.be/Ovje92D742s
Wow.
Drops the mic!
Tickets are really expensive.
Great flashes, at times I thought he was Jernigan when he was tossing aside OGs. If he continues playing at that level then I think he replaces Beau next year.
I know that I’m definitely in the minority here…but I don’t see a need to rush Darby back especially if he’s not 100%. Douglas has been highly impressive for a rookie thrusted into a starting position . 3rd rd pick playing as well as or better than many 1st rd DBs we’ ve seen in the past few years . The talent and confidence are there. He just needs more experience in this scheme. He should really have 3-4 ints already this year. Those will come. It looks like the iggles finally hit on a mid rd pick. If the iggles knee Douglas would be this good this fast maybe we still have our 3rd next year.
I wouldn’t rush him either, but I’d heavily question who F’d up the “4 to 6 week” timetable is he’s not back. And as long as they win, it won’t be a big deal.
I’d double on “no rush” as we’re talking about Jones as well. I don’t want him back until 2018……..especially because it would allow us an extra year of him at a minuscule cap number.
I completely agree about Jones. Don’t hurry a rookie.
I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be playing corner after that injury. I’d rather see him a full go for next training camp after getting a full year of NFL level rehab and strength&conditioning.
Exactly. Darby can come back if he is physically able and step right onto the field. Jones can’t do that. As a rookie, he’s bound to make rookie mistakes. Why compound the difficulty of his situation by throwing him into a mid-season battle for playoff standings?
And lose a year of him on rookie wages. If Jones is who we think he is, that’s a $12+ million AAV in today’s dollars when his rookie deal is up.
No, with how it is set up we would actually get another year of his wages.
Yup!
We don’t get another year at rookie wages. He’s just a restricted free agent instead of unrestricted at the end of his rookie deal. That is worth a lot but not 12 million. But we get that so long as jones is on the 53 man roster 5 or fewer games this season. So I’m rooting for him to get some time starting game 12. I think he’d have to remain on nfi through game 9 for that. Getting some game experience this year could be invaluable for the offseason and who knows he could be productive by playoff time.
I agree about not rushing him back, but having him on the field would be an upgrade.
I like that they will have options at cornerback too. Darby can match up better with speed guys, Douglas is a ballhawk, Mills is physical. Agree that they don’t have to rush, but it’s crazy this defense can get even better whenever Jones is able to play.
For a little bonus schadenfreude, did everyone take note that the receiver-less Giants are playing the smothering Denver defense this week?
It will be must watch TV.
It might be TV-MA for violence and language.
Hopefully Von Miller puts an end to Eli’s undeserved steak of games played. It’s a violation of cosmic proportions that Eli’s overrated INT factor self passed Jaws on the all time consecutive games played list. That wrong must be righted.
Eli’s undeserved steak. Sounds like surrealist comedy.
But it is. In what type of alternative reality did that piece of shit and scumbag-filled fan base deserve 2 titles and that games played streak?
I’m looking forward to the perpetual argument that will ensue when Eli retires. Can a QB with 2 SB wins be kept out of the HOF? I suspect not. But there will be throngs of naysayers, and not just from Philly. Bring on the stats wars.
Jim Plunkett is not in the HOF. He doesn’t deserve to be. Eli doesn’t either.
Eli is behind his brother, Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Big Ben, Rivers, Ryan, and Wilson in this era. Why would you honor, at best, the 9th best guy from his era?
Rivers no, Ryan no .. Ravens QB yes ha ha
Look at your list actually ..
Brady, Brees, Ben … Rothlesberger, Rodgers, Rivers, Ryan
He is going to end up in the top 5-8 or something of all time passing. And that, along with the rings, will be enough that he gets in. Nobody cares that he actually has sucked balls for pretty much most of his career. Nobody is going to say a thing about huge interception numbers of fluke hail mary’s or dominant defenses either. Its sickening.
I care!
… and Archie stood up from his seat at the head of the table. “Give him that steak, Payton, for he thinks he deserves it so!”
It was with no small bit of shock that Payton, strongest and bravest of them all, slid the seared beef onto his brother’s plate.
Archie continued, “Now eat that bit o’ beef, boy! And as ye eat it think ye not of the Tyree house, who hath bailed out thy poor season. And give no thanks to the house of Coughlin who hath guided thine hand, sorry as it is.
“But before ye takest yon first bite, take ye to the floor and find ye the poop of mice. Find ye enough poop that it may cover the top of that beef, so that no bite has less than two poops.”
So Eli, with a sour face, an Eli face, did go about the task of collecting the poops of mice. And when he felt he had sufficient volume he returned to the table. Archie and Payton, who had been having a spirited conversation in Eli’s absence, fell silent. Archie’s gaze said all that needed be said.
So Eli set about the task of placing the poop on his steak, and spread it so that no bite would have less than two bits. To this Payton exclaimed, “Fool thou art! Ye should cut that beef first, then place the poop on your piece. If ye were a stout man, such as myself, ye would et the beef in two bites. But be ye as ye are, dainty and feminine in all things, and section that beef in a hundred pieces of it please ye.”
Eli cut the biggest piece he thought he could manage. It wasn’t very big, yet still managed to hold three bits of poop. His hand trembled and he paused as he raised his fork.
“Oh my God!” Payton ejaculated. “You were really gonna do that!? You didn’t even wash your hands after handling the poop!” He stood from his seat, “I can’t handle this. Let’s go play some golf, Arch.”
Archie stood to join him, “That is the last steak in the house,” he said. “THAT is the steak you deserve.”
“Oh shit, Arch, that was brutal.” And then turning to his brother, “Later, nerd.” And then Payton thrust his hips forward while he mimicked putting on a belt, “Discount Double-Check.”
“That’s not even yours!” Eli cried after them, but the door had already closed behind them.
You’ve taken the football blog to a whole new level of literacy.
What? And what time is that game?
Sunday night game. 8:30 PM in civilized parts. Get your popcorn ready.
Vegas has the Broncos as 12 point favorites. I’m giving the points.
Do you know how to “lightning” a bet? Basically you name a $ amount and you get a multiple of that amount for every point over the spread by which you win and owe that multiple for every point you lose.
So a $100 lightning bet on the Broncos would net you $6800 after they win 82-2.
That suggests that the improbability of the Giants winning is so great that they get their first W.
Slap yourself.
It’s not the super bowl…
They have tended to pick up wins in really weird circumstances.
That’ll go well.
Good thing they have brilliant offensive minds on the coaching st…oh, right. They have that creepy uncle guy.
Knowing full well the response I’ll get…………Monday night vs. Washing is too far away………..I just had to……
Round 1 Pick 29: Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame (B+)
Round 4 Pick 14: Kalen Ballage, RB, Arizona State (A-)
Round 4 Pick 29: Troy Fumagalli, TE, Wisconsin (A)
Round 5 Pick 21: Marcus Allen, FS, Penn State (B)
Round 5 Pick 29: Akrum Wadley, RB, Iowa (B)
Round 6 Pick 29: Jaylon Ferguson, DE, Louisiana Tech (B+)
I’ve been playing with them already as well. I don’t think we’ll stay in Round 1, he’ll trade down if possible.
I can’t imagine we get into the draft, and then back out of it, without getting back into 2nd or 3rd. The extra 4th from NE isn’t here yet and Howie still has some guys he can move this off season depending on how the rest of the season shakes out.
Agreed; there are going to be a number of 2-4’s that we can look at for some added depth. We’re finally starting to develop and stack talent on our roster, so we hopefully won’t have to count on early contributors from draft picks.
If we stay in the mid 20s in round 1, I’d like that guy to contribute year 1 IF Peters is finished.
Hard to say with him; they’ve got him under contract, but we’ll have to see where and how he does as the season progresses. Talent is still there. As long as ability and longevity hold up, he may have another year in him.
Vaitai has a chance to be okay at RT w/more development. Isaac may have to move out to Tackle if he wants to stick (still don’t understand why they gave up on him so quickly at Guard).
We’ll need some depth for camp, and let the best man win. If that’s a rookie, so be it. But Johnson should have LT locked if Peters is gone.
Yeah, a lot of moving parts. Although I think they’re going to need to upgrade the O-line coach this offseason.
Why do you say that?
Jerking around of Seumalo in favor of Warmack. D3 has some other explicits he’s posted as to why Stoutland hasn’t been that good. I’ll defer to him if/when he’s around.
I remember some of his comments. The Warmack saga is bogus, same with pulling Seumalo very quickly. Line seems to have found their groove lately. Have to see how things progress.
Also, don’t we have 3 – 4ths?
We do, but first pick hasn’t awarded it yet.
Gotcha
If we can get out of that draft with a long term starting OT, we can figure out the rest. Anyone has any clue how this draft class is for O-tackles in the bottom of the first round 😉
Right school wrong prospect. McGinley w ont last until pick 32 but Nelson wil. .Hes basically zach martin 2.0.
We take the best guard in the draft and sure up our line for a back to back k champion run in 2018
We trade two 4ths with cleveland( they love draft capital) to move up to the top of the 3rd round and take the top RB prospect available…maybe the kid from Oregon.
I think we unfortunately won’t be drafting in the second round in 2018. But no we Howie waits until the 4th to make thge iggles second pick in 2018.
If Nelson is Martin 2.0 he won’t be available that late either. In fact I expect nelson to go first out of the 2. Obviously a long way off, but he can be special.
I agree with kajomo. McGlinchey has alot of inconsistencies. I’ve loved him for two years but he has a couple plays a game that make you tear your hair out.
There’s a long way to go and he could really help himself in Mobile, but right now he’s more of a better run blocking Jason Spriggs.
To the disappointment of eagles fans I really think this team views Vaitai as our future RT.
I think D3 told me we can pay McGlinchey at guard!
I know it’s super early and all, but there are potentially lots of OG options. In addition to the ND guys Billy Price, Tyler Jones, Will hernandez, and Mason Cole all look like plug and play type OG. I think OL needs to be a priority, but don’t know that we take OG round 1. Could see us trading around and ending up with one in the 2nd-4th
Oh god no. If Barner is the irrational hate for Media Mike then Vaitai is my Barner. Vaitai sucks ass.
I learned today that there is an OT prospect with the name of CHUKWUMA OKORAFOR so my draft research is basically finished for next year.
I guess the coup is back on. hahaha
Philly Philly 😉
What are you referring to?
Jim Shortz coop overthrowing the least qualified coach in the NFL.
According to a former least qualified GM in mike lombardi
Also Philly Philly is better than Dilly Dilly… lol
Oh that thing? Whatever. He’s skip bayless to me.
I mean he is like skip except he was an actual “talent evaluator” and “NFL GM”
I hold grudges and LOVE the fact that the media will be forced to discuss our birds a lot more. I don’t really put any weight in what most of them say. Product on the field speaks for itself.
Mike Lombardi used to go get the coffee for Belichick in NE. Then he branched out on his own in Cleveland and different places and screwed up everywhere. Couldn’t work for Joe Banner here in Philly for more than a year.
I guess he managed to mess up BB’s coffee then too huh?
So the name also matches the personality. By any chance do you run a whore house in Philly? If so please private message if that is an available feature on Diquis. If it isn’t it needs to be.
Yes password is “Love em up”
The spot in philly is – Wentz Wagons Wings and Whores….
Good stuff.
EAgles finally getting payout for investment in d-line.
Last couple years the dominance waned and didn’t always win games because of offense and secondary problems.
Investing in d line is somwhow very Philly.
Agree. This article also made me think that Doug & Howie must have agreed somewhere that drafting a DE at 1st pick if it’s the right guy. .plays to our existing strength and that power would work in a way that maybe the old Bears or recent Broncos knew about
Do I look like a cat to you, boy?
You drinking milk from a saucer? YouJumping around all nimbly bimbly from a tree ?
Kitty no! Bad Kitty!
Yeah, I think the offense playing so well has really helped the defense, and the CBs do seem improved, too. By Football Outsider’s stats, the offense has improved from 25th or so to 6th. That makes for a completely different game, in terms of the situations the defense must face.
So TOP does matter? Lol, is this rhetorical question starting to get old? Billy Davis would have loved DP. Lol, Chip killed his career.
I meant more because of field position, but having a rested D is definitely a good thing too. Chip’s system only works if the offense is greatly superior and scores most times it gets the ball. We shouldn’t forget he’s made an impact on the pro game. Didn’t Wentz run a Chip play or two last Sunday?
Billy Davis didn’t get a fair shake, but we don’t miss him.
Don’t jinx now. This is about when it started to wane in previous years. Lol, not saying I think it will, but please knock on wood….
Yes it is very Philly.
Pro Football Talk dot com has a nice article on the Eagles today as a top team in the NFC this year and all:
“Eagles are on Top of the NFC and their Schedule gets Easier.”
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/10/14/eagles-are-on-top-of-the-nfc-and-their-schedule-gets-easier/
(Right next to it is a be-nice-to-Cam Newton article on his career accomplishment as the NFL’s all time TD scoring leader among rushing QBs. Very nice.)
What is Sheil’s new website ?? Fires he write up an all-22 ?. Would love to read one on this game
he writes for theathletic.com, you have to subscribe but you also get the best sixers coverage as well with Bodner.
He does a game breakdown – not sure he calls it all-22 still however.
Awesome, yes. Thank yooo
Philly Philly.
I get enough coverage from Tommy and Jimmy. Regretting my subscription
Ooo really. . Ok. ‘Preesh the feedback. I don’t read JimmyBama and BGN isn’t doin it for me
I really only read the weekly Q&A with Joe Banner which is OUTSTANDING each week.
If you aren’t reading Jimmy I could see where the athletic might fill a void for ya. But idk
Jimmy has a different although entertaining writing style. He brings up interesting points and unlike many beat writers he is educated in football. Tommy tends to provide deeper insights, but Jimmy is ilgood with numbers and graphs. He also does an interesting college review every week of what players can be draft targets in this off seasons draft. Yes, I do enjoy his stick figures. He is quick to blast someone, but it is ALWAYS well deserved (not click bait) and tends to be very amusing.
As far as the MB I believe it is very high quality such as this one.
Check it out. I like his site. BGN does not do it for me either. I will read it if I am starving for news, but I’m not necessarily a fan. Screw that MB due to quality of members and it is just simply hard to read, follow, and participate.
At what point should we root for other NFCE teams?
I’m already rooting for the Giants. If the Cowboys and/or WAS lose one or two more and we win one or two more then I’m gonna have to start rooting for them as well. Can’t allow NYG to pick #1 overall.
Giants, especially if it is against conference opponents. As much as it will pain me if Cowboys totally implode then them as well in a few weeks.
I think Giants are such a mess that if they get the first overall pick and he pans out, it still will not be enough to make them even decent again for at least a couple of years.
That OL is going to take some serious time and expensive resources to fix, such as high draft picks and considerable amount of $ in FA.
ODB is going to take MAJOR cash to resign and will always be a distraction for that team.
They need to find an all around back or at least get a RB rotation that works such as ours.
2/3 of their first round picks in the past few years appear to be busts, therefore hurting the long term outlook of this team. You really need to hit on those to have consistent long-term success in this league.
The majority of their best players either now or in the next few years will be over the proverbial NFL age hill. That includes their “prized” FA class of last year.
Their secondary besides Collins needs to be completely retooled.
They are going to need a new coach and replace Reese who put that product together.
If it isn’t a QB then that teams chances of significant improvement are completely shot. Eli is done.
If they do select a QB then he is going to take time to develop. That is of course if he does develop. The past few QB drafts have NOT been indicative of the usual success rate of the draft for that position. I highly doubt they are going to find a CW.