Gameday – PIT at PHI

Posted: October 30th, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Gameday – PIT at PHI

Today’s game is quite a mismatch on paper. The 6-0 Eagles host the 2-5 Steelers. Pittsburgh is missing multiple starters, including it’s star pass rusher and kicker, and they have a rookie QB. The Eagles are rested, healthy and just added a veteran pass rusher to give themselves better depth up front.

Check out this stat to get an idea of the difference in these teams.

https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1586690882228654082

But life in the NFL does throw us some curve balls from time to time. I don’t think this will be one of those days. The biggest issue would be if the Eagles played down to the Steelers. This will happen at times. The 2017 Super Bowl champs took on the 0-7 Niners and led just 3-0 at the 2-minute warning in the first half. Philly woke up and won 33-10. They played a late season game against the 6-8 Raiders and trailed 10-7 late in the third quarter. The Eagles won 19-10.

We’ll see if the Eagles come out slowly or play sloppy. Nick Sirianni knows that coming off a bye the team could be distracted or out of rhythm. He’ll try to push all the right buttons to get them locked in. He wants his team to win, but just as importantly, he wants them to play well.

No real surprises on that list.

*****

What I’ll be watching…

Robert Quinn

As you can see above, Quinn will be active. I’m curious to see how much he’ll play today. Could be 20 or so snaps. He played in a similar scheme in Chicago last year so this won’t all be new to him. There will be some differences. The biggest challenge will be the language. Each coach has different terminology for what they run and players need to know it in case the offense uses tempo and you need to get lined up quickly.

Kenny Pickett’s legs

Pickett is only the second mobile QB the Eagles have faced (Kyler Murray). Pickett is a pocket passer who will run. You don’t need to come up with some creative plan for how to contain him, but you need to know that he’s not afraid to take off running when pressured or he can’t find anyone open. The Eagles could use a spy on him. They could play more zone coverage so defenders can keep their eyes on him. Running QBs are always an X-factor.

2nd half offense

The Eagles average 5.8 points per second half. That is not good enough. I’m sure this was a major topic of discussion for the coaches during the bye week. I would expect them to make it a focal point today. I’m curious to see what they do to try to get the offense going.

Deep Balls

Buffalo blew out the Steelers, 38-3. They threw down the field, coming up with 3 pass plays or 40 or more yards and another 3 plays of 25 or more yards. The Eagles have used the deep ball effectively at times. I wonder if they’ll do that today. Pittsburgh just faced Miami and their RPO game. If the Eagles try a lot of RPOs, that could be something the Steelers have a feel for. With a banged up secondary, going deep might be something the Eagles should try.

_

Comments are closed.