Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Preview – SF at PHI

Posted September 19th, 2021 | Comments Off on Game Preview – SF at PHI

The Eagles have to file away last week’s win and get ready for a real team. The Falcons were awful, making the opening win easier than expected. This week the Eagles have their home opener and the Niners come to town.

We’re going to find out if the Eagles are for real.

SF was up 41-17 on Detroit last week before allowing a couple of late scores that cut the game to 41-33. SF piled up 442 yards, but gave up 430. It is hard to know what to make of this team. They were in the Super Bowl in 2019, but were decimated by injuries last year and went 6-10. Can the 2021 team bounce back?

The Niners can run the ball and that will be a challenge for the Eagles defense. The Eagles struggled vs the run in the preseason and early on last week. Jonathan Gannon focuses more on limiting big plays to shutting down the run. That’s fine against most teams because they don’t have the patience to stick with the run. Kyle Shanahan will. The Eagles must find a way to get stops.

They played a lot of 3-4 on run downs last week. I hope that changes to 4-3 this week. Maybe Gannon was planning ahead and wanted to give SF something weird to look at. Maybe he believed in the 3-4 looks. We’ll see.

Shanahan will use shifts and pre-snap motion to get the eyes of the defenders moving around. That creates hesitation and doubt for the defense, and can lead to big plays for the offense. Gannon will have to really preach to the back seven to focus on their assignments and not bite on motion/fakes.

Tackling will be crucial. The Niners offense relies on RAC yards. You must rally to the ball and tackle them to limit yards after the catch.

The Eagles won’t hold SF to six points, but I also don’t think the Niners will be piling up yards and points like they did last week. The Eagles didn’t get a takeaway in the opener. It would help a lot to come up with a takeaway (or two) today.

SF has been Top 5 in yards allowed the past two years. That defense is tough. But they are missing some key players. There will be holes. The Eagles can have success if the OL can protect Hurts.

DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor and Quez Watkins can all run right by this guy. SF might try to keep two safeties back to limit that. If so, look for the Eagles to throw short and run the ball again.

Can Jordan Mailata handle Nick Bosa? Mailata was good in the opener, but he’ll get to face an explosive rusher in Bosa today. That’s a very different challenge. The Eagles may chip block and help a bit just to keep Bosa under control.

One bit of good news is that th Eagles are healthy.

It will be interesting to see if Dickerson and Taylor play, even if just on STs. The coaching staff is high on both players so I’m sure they want to get them on the field.

Toth sitting out means Andre Dillard is the swing tackle. Let’s hope both OTs stay healthy.

Marcus Epps will play and probably start. He suffered a concussion last week, but passed the tests and is active today.

This is the home opener for the Eagles and the first time with a full crowd since the playoff game vs Seattle in January of 2020. God, that seems like a lifetime ago. Hurts and Smith and the other young guys will get to experience a real home game. Let’s hope the crowd brings out the best in them and that the home field advantage proves to be a factor in the game.

Go Eagles!

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