Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Back?

Posted October 19th, 2018 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles encouraged all of us with their performance in the win over the Giants. That looked like the offense we all expected to see. That looked like the defense that played so well last year.

Eagles players also felt pretty good about that performance.

https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/1050846026800750592

I will admit all of this makes me a bit nervous.

The Eagles were at their best last year when they were confident, aggressive and having fun. They played with an edge. They were fearless. Based on that, the comments would seem to be a good thing. And it could be.

At the same time, the 2017 team didn’t play an outright bad game until December. There were sloppy parts of games, but the Eagles were mostly outstanding. As Pederson likes to say, their execution fueled their emotion. That swagger came from playing like a bunch of bad asses.

Last week the Eagles beat the 1-5 Giants. They looked really good, but is that enough to make everyone legitimately feel this team is back?

I certainly hope so.

We really won’t know until we see this team play for a month. A game here…a game there. That isn’t going to tell us who this team is. We need to see this group play for several weeks to really know if the Eagles are back and the rest of the NFC should be worried.

I will say this. I think it is important for this team to be confident, to be aggressive. That is how they had success last year. While you don’t want the players being too cocky, this isn’t a humble group that is at their best playing a workmanlike style. When the Eagles play with an edge, it brings out the best in them.

It will be interesting to see how the Eagles play on Sunday. If they can get off to a fast start and get the emotion going, that would be a really good sign for the rest of the season. If the team is sloppy and falls behind, it will make you wonder if the Giants game was an anomaly.

Remember, for the emotion to mean something it has to be real. It has to come from good things happening on the field.

Execution fuels emotion.

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Miller was a dangerous runner at Ohio State. He could be valuable in helping the defense prepare to deal with Cam Newton.

*****

The last thing the Eagles need right now is another injured DB. Let’s hope Jalen Mills is good to go on Sunday.

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Another Good Sign

Posted October 17th, 2018 | Comments Off on Another Good Sign

There are plenty of positives from the Giants game. The offense scored TDs in the Red Zone. The defense came up with a critical takeaway and played great RZ defense. Eli Manning got sacked four times. The Eagles got help from Special Teams.

I also thought the coaches had their best game of the year.

The offensive coaches had a short week, but came up with some nice play-calls. The plays weren’t just well-designed, they were called at the right times. A good gameplan is as much about timing as it is about X’s and O’s.

The Eagles did a great job last year of building gameplans and calling plays. It is fair to question how much the team has missed Frank Reich and John DeFilippo, but I think injuries and new faces have also played a big part in the slow start. The Giants game was very encouraging from a coaching perspective.

It wasn’t just the offensive staff.

Schwartz decided that OBJ wasn’t going to beat the Eagles. He dared Eli to make plays by forcing the ball to other receivers. That plan didn’t work great. The Eagles coverage was better than in other games. Also, the D-line got a lot of pressure. They played really well and made a difference.

The Eagles aren’t piling up sacks, but they are affecting the QB.

Now the coaches have a full week to get ready for the Panthers. It will be interesting to see how the Eagles attack on offense and defense.

Carolina is 15th in pass defense and run defense. There isn’t a glaring weakness or a great strength.

Schwartz will need a really good gameplan for how to deal with Cam Newton. In four games, Carson Wentz has thrown 158 passes. In five games, Newton has thrown 170 passes. Newton has run the ball 45 times, the same number as Jay Ajayi. Newton is the key to that offense in a way that most QBs just aren’t.

The Eagles are going to be in for quite a challenge, having to deal with Newton the passer and the runner. His QB rating is 93.2. This isn’t a runner who can throw the occasional deep ball. Newton can do it all and do it all at a high level.

*****

Doug Pederson was asked about the DT situation on Wednesday. He was coy about the status of Haloti Ngata for this week. Pederson said the Eagles have a plan. He, Schwartz and Chris Wilson had talked and made sure they had some options for Sunday.

I assume that means Ngata will either be ready to go or the team will promote Bruce Hector if needed.

I guess it is possible the Eagles could see about trading Chance Warmack for Aaron Donald, but I just don’t know if the Rams would do that. Can’t hurt to ask, I guess.

Maybe the Eagles have some surprising move at DT. Could Josh Sweat play some snaps on the inside? He played multiple snaps there in the 4th quarter of the win over the Giants. Sweat hasn’t proven to be an explosive edge rusher at the NFL level, but he is talented and physical.

Wow. That’s impressive.

Sweat has a ton of potential. I hope he’s able to show that when he gets the chance this season.

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