Familiar Foe

Posted: September 22nd, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

The Eagles haven’t played the Colts since 2014, but this game will have familiar faces.

Frank Reich helped the Eagles develop Carson Wentz over the past two seasons and then helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Now he’s the head coach in Indy. Reich’s defensive coordinator is Matt Eberflus, who came to Indy from Dallas. Simply put, the Colts schemes will look more than a little familiar to Eagles players and coaches. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the Eagles schemes will be very familiar to the Colts coaches. That means this game is more likely to be won on execution than scheming. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing for the Eagles, who have been sloppy over the past two weeks.

The Eagles will definitely have some challenges. Darren Sproles and Jay Ajayi are both out. Alshon Jeffery still isn’t read to play (but he is getting closer) and we don’t know if Jordan Matthews will be active. On the other hand, Carson Wentz is back and that will make a huge difference.

We saw what Wentz could do with mediocre skill players during the early part of 2016. As long as he had good blocking, Wentz was able to turn lemons into lemonade. Once Lane Johnson got suspended, things fell apart. Wentz will have a healthy O-line on Sunday so that is one major reason to be encouraged.

I’m guessing that the offense we saw the first two weeks will different from the one we see on Sunday. Wentz gets the ball out quicker. He has a much better arm that Nick Foles. Wentz also has the ability to make things happen with his legs. Even if Doug Pederson is calling the same plays, they will look different. Wentz is a special player. He’s simply going to do things that Foles can’t.

The Eagles should have one big advantage in this game…the line of scrimmage. The Eagles have the better DL and the better OL. The Colts are playing a backup at LT and that is something the Eagles can try to exploit. If Indy tries to help him out, the Eagles can overwhelm the RT, who isn’t exactly great.

Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett and Michael Bennett are sackless so far this year. That needs to change on Sunday. I’m not saying all of them should get to Andrew Luck, but that trio needs to get regular pressure and start making more plays. Power rushes to try to collapse the pocket on Luck might just be the way to go.

The Eagles are not the only banged up team in this game.

Even with those guys out, this game isn’t going to be as easy as some seem to think. Indy is off to a good start and they are going to be tough to beat.

The Eagles need to play a lot better this time out. Having Wentz will help, but the overall team must improve. The sloppy football has to stop.

_


One Comment on “Familiar Foe”

  1. 1 Eagles News: Carson Wentz stars in a new commercial that Philadelphia fans will enjoy - Football News Latest said at 7:27 AM on September 23rd, 2018:

    […] Familiar Foe – Iggles BlitzThe Eagles haven’t played the Colts since 2014, but this game will have familiar faces. Frank Reich helped the Eagles develop Carson Wentz over the past two seasons and then helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Now he’s the head coach in Indy. Reich’s defensive coordinator is Matt Eberflus, who came to Indy from Dallas. Simply put, the Colts schemes will look more than a little familiar to Eagles players and coaches. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Eagles schemes will be very familiar to the Colts coaches. That means this game is more likely to be won on execution than scheming. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing for the Eagles, who have been sloppy over the past two weeks. […]