Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Minor Moves

Posted October 17th, 2018 | Comments Off on Minor Moves

The Eagles have yet to make a big move, but they made several small ones on Tuesday.

Who needs Patrick Peterson when you can have Dexter McDougle, right?

McDougle played for the Eagles in 2017. He can play outside or in the slot, making him valuable to a banged up secondary. The Eagles will be missing Sidney Jones for at least a week or two, possibly more. While he’s out, tough decisions have to be made.

Avonte Maddox is needed at FS to replace Rodney McLeod. He is also needed in the slot to replace Sidney Jones. Maddox is a good young player, but he can’t be in two spots at once so the Eagles have a decision to make.

They can play Maddox at FS in the base and then move him down to the slot in 3 and 4-receiver sets. Rasul Douglas could then slide into the FS spot in those looks.

The Eagles could put Douglas at LCB and move Jalen Mills to the slot, leaving Maddox to play only FS.

McDougle now gives the coaches another option. He could play in the slot, leaving Maddox to play FS and Douglas to be the top backup CB. McDougle was with the Lions this summer, but hasn’t played this year. He is at his best in the slot and does have experience in this scheme.

Could he really come in and play a key role this quickly? DB is one of the few spots where that would be possible, but it wouldn’t seem likely. I doubt we’ll hear much from the coaches on this. They don’t want to give the Panthers extra info. We’ll have to wait and see on Sunday.

If Corey Graham is able to play, that will certainly help. He can help in the slot and at FS. You need options when it comes to coming up with a coverage gameplan these days.

I put a lot of value in having Maddox at FS, but it will be interesting to see what exactly the coaches do.

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What’s going on at DT?

Cutting Vaeao really surprised me. He just had a sack in the last game. Obviously he’s banged up and the Eagles felt cutting him was the best option for now.

That leaves them with Fletcher Cox, Haloti Ngata and Treyvon Hester as the only DTs on the roster. The Eagles have played games with only three active DTs before so this isn’t unheard of. The Eagles also use Michael Bennett and Brandon Graham on the inside in some passing sets so that eats up a certain amount of DT snaps.

Ngata missed the last two games. He must be healthy or the Eagles would be adding another DT.

The Eagles can’t stick with three DTs. Bruce Hector is on the practice squad and has played in games this year. He could be brought up to the active roster.

We still don’t know when, or if, Tim Jernigan will be back. He’s eligible to return now, but clearly isn’t healthy if the Eagles aren’t activating him. The first step for him will be practicing and we’re not even there yet.

I would tell you the Eagles should go trade for a DT to add depth, but there aren’t likely to be a lot of good options. DTs aren’t easy to come by.

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As to the practice squad, Winston Craig has been part of the Eagles the past two years. He played his butt off this summer to really push for a roster spot. Craig isn’t the most talented guy, but he is a maximum-effort kind of guy. He’ll be good for practices.

I don’t know what the team likes about Bello, specifically. He’s got a good frame at 6-3, 229. He’s athletic. The Eagles have had LBs coming and going from the PS all season. I’m not sure what they are looking for. This could simply be a case of the team taking a look at different young LBs and hoping to find a player worth developing.

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Terrible, Awful Defense

Posted October 16th, 2018 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles defense has been awful this year. Right?

Wrong.

The Eagles are 5th in points allowed and 13th in yards allowed. The Eagles have played three teams in the Top 10 in the league in yards gained. Two of the teams are in the Top 10 in scoring.

Adam Thielen lit up the Eagles secondary. He happens to be the leading receiver in the league this season and has set an NFL record by having six consecutive 100-yard games to start the season.

I’ve written a few times already about how this is the Year of the Offense. We are seeing some amazing things done this year. We have to keep that in mind when judging the defense. I’m not excusing them for blowing the lead in the Titans game, but the defense hasn’t been nearly as bad as some would think.

The Eagles have the third best 3rd down defense in the league. They have the best Red Zone defense. What about big plays?

Sheil Kapadia had some good information on that angle.

In terms of explosive plays (runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 20-plus), the Eagles are allowing 5.5 per game. That might seem like a lot, but it’s actually the seventh fewest in the NFL. League average is 6.5 per game. And last year, the Eagles allowed 4.8 per game, fifth fewest. The lesson: Playing defense in 2018 is really hard.

Sheil’s piece has lots of good info and nuggets. He is always must-read material.

The bottom line is that the defense has been better than you think. They aren’t immune from criticism, but context and perspective tell a different story than the thoughts of angry fans after some painful losses.

The struggles of the offense have put extra pressure, and scrutiny, on the Eagles defense. If Wentz and company can get going, it will have a big impact on the whole team.

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Eagles coaches met with the media today. There were some good nuggets.

I know Wiz doesn’t like hearing that, but Seumalo has played better than him. This isn’t about making Wiz a goat for the offenses struggles. It was just a way to improve the OL.

It would be great for Peters to say healthy. Injuries have affected him this year. Having him bounce in and out of the lineup doesn’t help anyone.

I’m very happy with DeAndre Carter right now, but Sproles has earned the right to get another chance as the PR. It will be interesting to see if Carter is active. His primary value is on STs. Does Sproles mean Carter now becomes a spectator?

Interesting. They could use him.

Maddox made sense to me as an Eagles target before the draft. He’s their type of player. I’m glad he’s off to a good start. It will be interesting to see if he plays FS or Nickel this week. I thought he did good things at both spots last week.

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