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The week between the Atlanta game and the Lions game rumors began spreading that the Eagles were the top team interested in Jalen Ramsey who was recently announced on the trading block from Jacksonville as a disgruntled player. While the Lions game doesn't highlight the need for a lockdown cornerback as much as the week 1 and 2 games did, there are plenty of areas on both sides of the ball to criticize. The week revealed that Jackson and Alshon both have lingering injuries and Goedert isn't 100% still either. So, going into the Detroit game the team is going to be seeing a similar receiving corp. Dallas beat Washington and is now 2-0. The Eagles are alone in second of the NFC East at 1-1. Detroit just came off their first victory over the Chargers, but still haven't lost as they tied w/ Arizona in Week 1. They have a stocked offense especially when it comes to passing with Hockenson, Golladay, Amendola and Marvin Jones. Their backfield is pretty stacked too with Kerryon Johnson, McKissic and Ty Johnson. This week also features a game where we get to see the Eagles against one of their newest members Darius Slay, boy are we glad to have him now on our side. The game starts on an 89 degree September afternoon.
The Game Summary
The Eagles start off with the ball this time and they find a way to get down field in just under 4 minutes. In their first drive I think they may have had a running back in the backfield on 3 of the 9 offensive plays. With Jackson and Alshon being out again this game they put Sanders in a receiver position on a couple shotgun plays since WR suddenly become a shallow position on the depth chart. Howard doesn't see the field again on the first drive, but they end up taking a 1st quarter lead of 3-0 only to be down 7-3 within 14 seconds of the FG due to a terrible kickoff coverage play. The offense returns to the field and again drives down the field on the backs of Ertz and Jordan Howard. This drive features another forward diving scramble by Wentz for nearly a touchdown, when he sees that goal line he just can't resist diving head first risking injury. Luckily he was fine and he let Jordan Howard finish it with a TD, he had a couple monster runs through the defenders on this drive. All this happened in the first 10 minutes of the game. 10-7 Eagles. Detriot follows up with a 7 minute touchdown drive. The drive does start with the defense showing they worked on some of their tackling, Darby makes a couple arm locking tackles and they even stopped a screen pass from going anywhere. But it didn't get better from there. Darby on the biggest play of the drive gets burnt by Marvin Jones on a double move, it was a terrible looking play and something that any NFL corner should expect from a WR1 or WR2. Another pass to the TE got Detroit down to the 3 yard line where the running backs finish it off. 14-10 with 14 minutes left in the first half. This next drive has a coming to reality moment for Mack Hollins. The offense is moving they get a couple yards on a Wentz scramble and then an 11 yard pass to Mack Hollins, then a run by Sanders get 4 more. Then Hollins covered by Darius Slay gets an 11 yard catch again and gets in the face of Slay slams the ball down and is boasting about his skill. Immediately he realizes a flag is down and he has been called for offensive pass interference. This one play summarizes the career of Mack Hollins. After that incident, Wentz got the ball to Arcega and then a later than normal, first drop by Agholor. Punt. Detriot comes out and goes 3 and out with a penalty, but this drive showed the Eagles can stop a screen play thats the second screen they stopped this game. Eagles get the ball back with 8:53 And now its time to rag on the rookie. Sanders starts off great with runs for 2 and 5 yards and pass to Ertz for 12 and then Sanders is rushing up the left side looks like squeezed through a hole for a decent gain but the ball falls back to near the line of scrimmage, luckily Seumalo landed on it. Protect that ball Rook. Howard immediately comes in takes the ball for 3 then a JJ basically TD gets called back due to defensive offsides. Sanders comes back with a 6 yard gain and then a stab in the hearts of philly fans every where, fumbled the ball and lost it on the 49 yard line. 5 minutes left Detriot takes the ball for 40 yards and gets another field goal. The big play on this drive was a 40 yard run by McKissic on a reverse where no one could stop him. 17-10. Then the Eagles counter with an Ertz 23 yard pass, Wentz scrambles for 5, Wentz gets the ball to Hollins for 12 yards. Wentz gets the ball to Agholor and he CATCHES IT! Just to fumble it away. Detroit gets it and needs to got a couple yards just to get a field goal before half 20-10 with 57 seconds left. Eagles still have 2 timeouts. Wentz comes on the field and Misses Ertz. Then he scrambles and looks down field surrounded by 2 defenders plenty of time to pump but decides to go down instead of throwing the ball away to stop the clock. The offense decides to let the clock run out. The offense literally ran 19 times and passed 19 times, even though it didn't feel like it. Wentz is working with a skeleton crew again but he's not looking smooth still he is second guessing everything. The second half starts with 3 punts. But the eagles start their second drive at the Det 47 Howrad gets 2 yards then an incomplete pass in the flat, something Wentz was struggling with thus far in the season anytime his runningback is there or on a wheel route up field he can't seem to hit them. Then Hollins gets a 20 yard gain. Ertz for 6. Howard a loss and then Agholor is in the End Zone after a spin move out of a tackle, touchdown 20-17. This isn't over yet. Detorit hits with a right hook though. Marvin Jones gets a 27 yard gain on a blitz where Stafford should have been on the ground but he floats one up to a wide open receiver. Then they get some decent gains to extend the drive but the next big play is to Amendola who cuts across Zach Brown and Brown just acted like he wasn't even there Amendola gets 22 yards. And then down by 3 with 14:53 left the Lions in the Redzone, the eagles decide to blitz everyone except for 3 guys and leave all the receivers in single coverage.. I don't need to tell you the result but the Eagles are now down by 10. Eagles come out and look atrocious the line just doesn't even try on one play that Carson gets sacked on. They end up punting 3 and out. A quick 3 and out by Detroit. Eagles have the ball. They drive 80 yards in 4.5 minutes basically thanks to Miles Sanders and a roughing the passer penalty. But Agholor gets his second touchdown of the game to bring it to 27-24. A Punt by Detriot followed by a 58 second drive then ends with turnover on downs by the Eagles. Wentz couldn't get the ball to anyone on this drive and scrambled on 4th for only 6 yards when they needed 8. So the Lions get the ball at the 22, this game is over. Until it's not. The Lions can't move the ball because they're playing predictably conservative. and the Eagles end up blocking their FG, thanks to Malcolm Jenkins. The Eagles need 3 to tie and are at the 50 yard line. We have seen 63 yard field goals before to win or tie. They need about 6 yards to get into that range. But 2 quick incompletions followed by a 5 yard short pass to Agholor, then a deep pass to Sproles called back for Pass Interference followed by a deep pass to JJ that falls incomplete the game is officially over.
The Eagles end the game 1-2 and now are behind Dallas who is 3-0. Wentz had another mediocre day 19/36 with 259 yards 2 touchdowns, 3 sacks 33 rushing yards. No turnovers though. Miles lead the runningbacks again in yards but Sproles had the most snaps in the backfield. Agholor and Hollins basically played every play. Sanders lead in receiving too, then Ertz, Hollins and Nelson all with 50+ yards. But Miles and Nelson had 3 total fumbles. Defense had no sacks and only 5 tackles for a loss. But the special teams did block a Fg but they also gave up a touchdown return on the kickoff. The defense gave up 201 passing yards and 86 rushing, which is actually a decent showing. They should have won this game when you look at the stats outside of the turnovers. But even with those turnovers they had a chance at the end. What went wrong that they didn't win.
The Plays
Darby Double Move
When you look at this play Darby is alone on the right side. He has a tall quick receiver in Marvin Jones running straight at him and Marvin does a simple stutter step to his right then cuts slightly to his left to run up field. Darby just bites on the first move and is covering the outside instead of over the top. Darby needs to be aware that no one is over the top. And really needs to keep the receiver in front of him. These plays are what eat away at the defense when you can't cover receivers it doesn't matter if its 3rd and 1 or 3rd and 15 they're going to get you eventually and you're going to wear down. The Eagles have Darius Slay who in this game made some nice coverage plays in the secondary. Having him in this position or even Jalen Mills back, that double move isn't as big of a problem. Darby might have had his injury still on his mind but he didn't look like he was ready to play at all always a step behind. I'm really puttin high expectations on Darby, K'Von, McLeod, Will Parks and Coleman to step up in this secondary this year.
Screens 10 minutes left in second
On the screen play to Ty Johnson the Eagles showed they really looked at screen plays during the week. The defense pre-snap looks identical to the play the week before against the Falcons. The Lions snap the ball and do the same pick move that the Falcons did and it worked again but the major difference is the second defender took a direct route to the player instead of a round about way where he was also taken into the screen block. The other major difference is the line reacted and recognized the screen much sooner. They weren't running to the Quarterback and leaving the running lanes more open. This simple change makes a play go for no gain vs 54 yards for a game losing touchdown. While this play didn't win the Eagles the game I like to see the difference week to week to show they won't get tricked with the same plays, and from a fan's perspective I don't know if I would have noticed the similarities in these plays without rewatching these games. I have more confidence in the defense adjusting seeing this, but I also have higher expectation now that they won't continue to fall for these screens, because the same players stopped the same play that killed them the week before. They have the skill to do it, they just need to execute more consistently.
Double reverse
The Lions double reverse play to JD McKissic did to the Eagles what the Falcons screen play to Julio did. On this play I'm not sure until the ball is in his hands the Eagles realize that JD McKissic can run it. Detroit does a great job trapping everyone to the other side of the field on the reverse hand off, but 2 linebackers have an angle to get to him. Sendejo, again, and Zach Brown. Sendejo has speed and breaks quickly across field he looks like he is going to get there, then all of the sudden with no awareness to what is around him Zach Brown cuts him off and ends up falling to the ground because they collide. Sendejo then takes out McLeod too. That's not the end though Bradham gets down field and so does Douglas neither can get their hands on him. This results in 44 yards and sets up a field goal following Sanders fumble. It could have been worse with a touchdown but this is where some linebackers with better field awareness would help. Getting a guy like Jadeveon Clowney even helps here. Hopefully Jatavis Brown and some of the Linebackers from the draft can help here but I still think this Linebacking corps will face similar issues.
The Play the Line gave up on
The last play I want to look at is the 2nd play of the Eagles first possession in the 4th quarter. They were down by 7 with 14 to go and need to do something on this drive. Wentz just got sacked. They come out in shotgun again and the lines just gives up on the second half Wentz is scrambling all over the place to get the ball down field and the line is standing in a cluster to the left 3 guys covering one defensive line man who ends up sacking Wentz again. It was a terrible showing by this No Longer Elite offensive line. While the Defenders did make it seem like Wentz already passed it by Jumping up on the pump fake there is no excuse for an offensive line to not play to a whistle. This is a point in the game where everyone should be locked in for a drive to tie it up and instead they looked like they were in the middle of Nova Care Complex just going through the motions. Everyone gets on Wentz for not having great games, but this line didn't help him in this game. They should be taking as much heat as he does.
This Week's From a Fan's Perspective
The NFL is talking about playing games without fans in they're stadium. They're hoping to get the NFL season off on time and only have TV broadcasts with piped in crowd noise over the airways. I can't say I like the idea of the NFL season getting delayed or pushed back, but if it means that the fans who want to go to games can I lean towards delaying the season. When you look at the NFL, home field advantage is everything. All season long teams are playing to get the home field advantage throughout the playoffs. In the week 3 game against Detroit the Eagles drew 3 pre snap penalties, which I have to attribtue partially to the fans. In 2019 the ealges drew the most pre snap penalties at home with 126 and Kansas City followed with 112, then titans and steelers close behind. The NFL Experience is about the fans. Having an empty stadium where players are running around on the field just has an eerie feeling to it, and it discredits the franchises to put dollars before quality. The NFL is a revenue generator so I get it, they can't miss out on generating the income they can. From a Fan's perspective it just hurts a little to know the fan may be a missing element to the 2020 season at least in person. On the flip side, I have been watching games mostly on mute reviewing the footage of the 2019 season for this podcast. I still clap my hands when Miles Sanders makes a big play or when Malcolm Jenkins made a hit. So, maybe I'm valuing the stadium fans too much. Maybe the more important fan is the fan on the other side of the TV. They're the ones who tune in every week regardless of what else is going on in their lives. Many fans, like myself, plan their Sunday's around the NFL. So, the stay at home fan doesn't lose out as much as the fan who goes down to the stadium for the tailgates and screams their head off to draw that offsides penalty. Many argue that the reason the NFL needs to play is the ancillary benefits that other businesses and employees gain outside of the players and NFL owners, but with how its currently being projected the season is going to be played with empty stadiums, so most of those stadium workers will not have jobs. The bars and restaurants that are filled during Sunday's will be closed or limited to the number of patrons they can have. Those ancillary businesses quickly are diminished when you look at the bigger picture. So, the NFL playing with out fans is indeed about just the league and more so about the owners than the players. In the end I just want to see a season where players get to feel comfortable enough to perform at their best. If the players and owners are okay running a game without fans I'm still going to watch, one of the biggest aspects will feel like it is missing though, the fan. Maybe the NFL will find ways with zoom and other platforms to still integrate the fan experience and take it to a new level, but something about seeing the fans out at the tailgates during pregame and jumping out of their seats at the big plays, telling the refs when they're wrong and boo'ing the team when they're slacking makes watching the game all that more interesting. From a fan's perspective its difficult to decide if I want to watch an altered game or wait for the air to clear and get the real thing later. Maybe we can get back to the real thing eventually, but until then we just need some normalcy of seeing our teams play each week. Until then we can all cheer the Eagles on from our couch, we can get upset and throw our hands in the air as we walk to our fridges to get another beer after the secondary blows coverage again. We can all run laps around the house when the defense makes a game saving stop and Wentz gets to go on a game winning drive. It will still be football and we'll still be fans.
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