Game Preview – BAL at PHI

Posted: October 17th, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Game Preview – BAL at PHI

Vinny Curry is going to earn his spot in the Eagles Hall of Fame. The Eagles activated him for Sunday’s game with the Ravens and since the team is already deep on the defensive line I assume they are going to move Curry to linebacker or receiver or right guard or cornerback. If he can play well in his new position and jump start the Eagles 2020 season, Eagles immortality will be his.

Or the Eagles are a poorly run team and they brought back a 32-year old DE to torture me.

I’ll let you decide.

I do not feel good heading into Sunday. See if you notice a pattern.

Dwayne Haskins – 27 points
Joe Burrow – 23 points
Nick Mullens – 20 points

Jared Goff – 37 points
Ben Rothlisberger – 38 points

Young, unproven QBs have averaged 23.3 points vs the Eagles defense. Talented veteran QBs have averaged 37.5 points. That doesn’t make me feel good about the guys in green shutting down Lamar Jackson, one of the most dynamic playmakers in the league.

Before you accuse me of being too negative, I will talk about a positive development. We will get to see a good LB on Sunday. Shaun Bradley, taking the place of the injured Duke Riley? No, I was actually talking about Ravens LB L.J. Fort. He was with the Eagles last year, but they were so deep and so talented at the LB position that they cut him.

Okay, I think I’ve vented enough.

I do think the Eagles can win this game. Carson Wentz looked like his old self at times last week. If he truly gets going, that makes the Eagles dangerous every week. A good QB can carry a team. Travis Fulgham looked like the real deal and a hot QB paired with a hot receiver makes a team even more dangerous. The Steelers have one of the best defenses in the league and the Eagles put up 29 points on them.

That will be more challenging this week. The Eagles will have a new RG, with Jamon Brown taking over for Matt Pryor, and Jack Driscoll at RT. Baltimore blitzes more than any other team in the league and that will put tremendous pressure on the line. They have to read the blitzes and get them blocked. One missed assignment can lead to a disaster. The Eagles average 2.2 turnovers per game so that doesn’t bode well.

Baltimore gave up more than 130 yards on the ground in two of five games this year. That’s odd. A big day from Miles Sanders and the Eagles ground game would be a huge help to the chances of winning this game.

The Ravens offense is up and down. They are only 24th in the league in yards this year, but they average 5.6 yards per carry as a team and they are 8th in scoring. Jackson is coming off a sloppy performance. He was 19-37-180 as a passer and just 2-3 as a runner. You could argue that might affect his confidence this week, but I’m guessing it will just fire him up.

This isn’t a good matchup for the Eagles. The Ravens are very creative on offense. You have to be assignment sound and very disciplined to handle this attack. The Eagles back seven struggled with this against the Rams and Niners. The Steelers mixed in a few things and they worked well.

While I’m not happy about the return of Curry, I am interested to see what Parks can do. The Eagles had big plans for him. It will be interesting to see if Parks, Rodney McLeod and K’Von Wallace can make some plays. That is a talented trio of safeties. Parks could be key to this game. He can play in the box and get the job done. If you want to go with a Big Nickel vs the Ravens run game, Parks becomes critical. That player must be able to get to the ball and make tackles.

If the Eagles are going to pull off the upset, they will need someone on the defense to have a breakout game. Anyone have Nate Gerry as that guy? I’m going to hold off on making that bet. The entire defense will have to play smarter than last week. Missed tackles and dumb penalties really hurt them in that game.

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t feel good about this game. That said, 2020 is one weird year and nothing will really shock me.

I am excited to see the young guys in action. Fulgham has shown tremendous potential. Baltimore has arguably the best secondary in the league. If he can play well against these guys, that is a good sign for the future. We’ll get to see Driscoll and Nate Herbig tested by an aggressive defense. We’ll see Bradley and Wallace playing against a challenging offense.

No one game is going to give us answers about the young players. But it can give us clues. Let’s hope we get some good ones on Sunday.

As for the score, I’m going Baltimore, 31-19.

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