Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Opportunity Knocks

Posted January 13th, 2024 | 3 Comments »

There is a lot on the line in every playoff game. Win or go home. Sometimes legacies are involved. Sometimes job status is at stake. The Eagles want to win to keep their season going. A win would stop some of the bleeding from the miserable 6-game stretch (5 losses). A win would also help Nick Sirianni’s case to keep his job.

Things just got tougher.

The Eagles are going to play a good defense and won’t have their top offensive weapon. Not awesome.

This situation does provide opportunities for some guys. Sirianni gets to show that he can coach. Some of his critics think he wins strictly because of talent. Well, he will be missing a key piece in a key game. Show what you can do.

Quez Watkins has been desperate to show he’s a good player for a while now. Most of us know the answer to that. But he did just have the best game of his NFL career last week. If there was ever a time for him to step up, this is it.

Brian Johnson has gotten a ton of flak this year. He now gets a chance to show that he can be creative and come up with a gameplan that makes the most out the players he does have.

Opportunities.

The Eagles still have plenty of talent. Jalen Hurts is a star QB. DeVonta Smith is a stud receiver. Dallas Goedert is a stud TE. D’Andre Swift is a gifted RB who went for more than 1,000 yards this season. And the Eagles have one of the best OLs in the league. That is more than enough for Sirianni and Johnson to work with.

In terms of replacing Brown, the Eagles will need a group effort. Watkins had a very disappointing season, but played well last week. That might earn him a chance to show what he can do. I know a lot of you are rolling your eyes and I get that. Watkins struggled all year long. But you need someone to step up and he is coming off a good game. Maybe the light came on for him. Maybe it is just an anomaly.

Julio Jones will have a chance to show his value. He’s not a playmaker anymore, but can help to move the chains. Olamide Zaccheaus will get mixed in. I’m curious to see if Britain Covey gets more snaps. He’s not 100 percent so they may have him focus on being the PR.

The real key to this game is Hurts. He’s not 100 percent because of his finger injury, but he’s healthy enough that he can play well and lead the Eagles to a win. Hurts won’t have his safety blanket and that might be a good thing in its own way. Spread the ball around. Don’t force it downfield. That’s the optimistic view. There is always the possibility that Hurts will struggle without his favorite target.

More than anything, Hurts has to protect the ball. He hasn’t done that during the Eagles bad stretch. Tampa isn’t an explosive offense so you don’t want to help them out. Make them drive the long field.

I mentioned what an opportunity this game is for the others. Hurts is in that same category. He was amazing in 2022 and at times in 2023. Unfortunately Hurts hasn’t played well enough when the Eagles needed him most. Well, the Eagles sure need him on Monday night. At his best, Hurts makes plays with his arm, legs and brain. He will need to rely on all three against the Bucs.

The defense could be without Reed Blankenship. He hasn’t practiced, but Sirianni said that there is a chance he’ll play. Blankenship will likely be a gametime decision. If he doesn’t play, Avonte Maddox will move to safety. He’s been practicing there this week.

The Eagles will get Darius Slay back. They’ll certainly need him to help slow down Mike Evans.

Nothing has been simple or easy for this Eagles team and Monday night won’t be any different.

*****

AJ Brown has a good chance to play next week, if the Eagles can get by Tampa.

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Tampa Talk

Posted January 12th, 2024 | 4 Comments »

Five out of six. That describes the Eagles losing streak and the Bucs winning streak. These two teams are headed in different directions. Somehow the Eagles are still the favorites going into the game.

Tampa did go 9-8 this year, but didn’t have a lot of quality wins. Green Bay is the only playoff team they beat. They don’t have a win against anyone who had double-digit victories. With a chance to secure the NFC South, Tampa lost to the Saints 23-13. The Bucs did win the division in Week 18, but only beat the awful Panthers 9-0.

The Eagles beat the Bucs 25-11 way back in Week 3. They were very different teams back then. The Eagles were Super Bowl favorites and plenty of people thought Tampa would be in line for a Top 5 pick. The Bucs were 4-7 at one point and it looked like a lost season. Then they went 5-1 down the stretch. Division champs.

I don’t think you can call Tampa a good team. They were the best team in a bad division. It blows my mind that they finished as close as they did to the Eagles. Philly should have been clearly better. The 11-6 Eagles finished 14th in DVOA, dragged down by a porous defense. The 9-8 Bucs were 18th, hurt by a struggling offense.

Baker Mayfield had a terrific season, throwing for 28 TDs. He doesn’t complicate things. Mayfield has an elite weapon in WR Mike Evans and he feeds Evans the ball. Mayfield has an excellent possession receiver in Chris Godwin and uses him to move the chains. Simple, but effective formula.

Mayfield isn’t 100 percent right now.

He’ll certainly play on Monday night, but the injuries may affect him.

RB Rachaad White ran for 990 yards. That sounds good, but he only averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Tampa finished dead last in rushing yards this season. They’ve had some good games, but they don’t have a consistently good running game.

The Bucs averaged 31 points a game from Week 14 to 16. The offense then disappeared the final two weeks, managing just a total of 22 points. They couldn’t even score a TD last week. I’m not sure what we should expect from them.

The defense is good. They were 14th in DVOA, but finished 7th in points allowed. Tampa was third in the league in red zone defense. You can move the ball on them, but scoring TDs is hard. In the first game, the Eagles went 1 for 5 in the red zone. It will be critical for the Eagles to score TDs on Monday night. If you settle for FGs, the Bucs can beat you.

Todd Bowles is a good defensive coach and knows how to scheme so that his players can be disruptive.

https://twitter.com/NFLFilms/status/1745913546687610932

We know some of the names on the Tampa D…Vita Vea, Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David, Antoine Winfield. Rookies have given the defense a nice boost. Edge rusher YaYa Diaby leads the team with 7.5 sacks. DL Calijah Kancey has 4 sacks and 10 TFLs. DB Christian Izien is sixth on the team in tackles and also has two INTs.

The guy the Eagles should focus on is Winfield. He’s having a great year, with 6 sacks, 6 FFs and 3 INTs. Those are the kind of numbers you might expect from Brian Dawkins. Winfield makes plays all over the field. He is a difference-maker.

One place the Eagles should have a clear advantage is STs. They were first in special teams DVOA. Tampa was 18th.

https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/1745168944489537557

Anything Covey can do to help the offense will be huge. Of course, the defense actually has to force a punt in order for Covey to have a chance to make a play.

It is hard to figure out the X-factors for this game. Tampa is at home, where they went 4-4 this year. And one of those losses is to the Eagles, who went 5-4 on the road. Both teams have plenty of playoff experience, with the Eagles coming last year and the Bucs in the years before that. Mayfield has two playoff starts. He went 1-1 back in 2020. What he lacks in experience he will likely make up for in hunger.

The Eagles have a chip on their shoulder. Maybe that can help them to raise their level of play.

Every time I think I’ve got a feel for this team, I find out that I know nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I hope the playoffs bring out the best in the Eagles, but the last six weeks have robbed me of any faith in them. That doesn’t mean they won’t win, but I don’t expect them to look like the Eagles from midseason.

At this point, we’ll take anything we can get.

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