The Philly market is more than a bit brutal when it comes to head coaches and Doug's squarely on the hot seat these days. The play calling seems to lack much rhyme or reason. Doug got Carson moving out of the pocket on two plays and we picked up 40 yards and built some momentum, then they plopped him back in the pocket for the rest of the game. We'll snap off some good runs and build momentum running the ball then call five passes in a row. If it works, great, but when it doesn't work, and it hasn't been working much this year, it drives you a bit crazy.
There are times when as a play-caller you outsmart yourself. Doug is kind of in one of those ruts. If you're gaining six yards a run, keep running until they stop you. It's not rocket science. If they've got a bad corner, attack him. Put your best receiver on him and take your shots. There are times your best bet is to just man up with the opponent and beat them. You don't always have to try and fool them. If you're better than them, then just beat them.
Every defense has a weakness. The Giants were using a bend don't break, zone style of defense. They wanted to keep everything in front of them. Don't let them. You've got Reagor, Hightower, and Fulgham as three deep threats. They're telling you they don't want you throwing the ball deep by the defense they're playing. Why don't they want you throwing the ball deep? Because they know that's their weakness. When you see that it should be bombs away. If nothing else you stretch out the zones and give your underneath receivers more room to work. More often than not Doug had Reagor doing a loop behind Wentz at the snap. When he's ten yards behind the quarterback at the snap, he's not going to be a deep threat. It'll take him nearly a full second to get back to the line of scrimmage before he can even get down the field.
If they're playing a two-deep zone, then run the ball on them. Force them to bring a safety up to help stop the run then run two verticals down the field and whichever way the safety doesn't go, throw the ball that way. If you've got Reagor on one side and Fulgham, or Hightower on the other and both are running vertical routes, the safety can't stay in the middle. Use Wentz to look the safety to one side or the other and then throw the ball to wherever the safety isn't. The fastest Giant DB is Jabril Peppers and he runs a 4.4 forty. Reagor and Hightower are 4.2-4.3 guys. When you've got two receivers who are a tenth faster than the fastest DB on the other team, you attack them. It's not rocket science. The Eagles did that last year against the then Redskins and we didn't have as much speed then. We ran two verticals against their single safety and the guy had to pick a side. When he did we threw the ball to the other side for a long TD.
Doug is just not hitting it with the play calling now. He's out of his rhythm. The team isn't helping him a lot. Kelce had about ten snaps in yesterday's game where he bounced the snap off of his own thigh sending the snap off in an odd direction. That can happen once in a game but then you've got to adjust. Widen your stance. Focus on snapping the ball cleanly. Don't keep repeating the same stupid mistake. Carson was having to watch every snap to try and figure out where it would be. That kills you in the shotgun. The offensive guards were pretty awful yesterday also. At least in pass protection. They were okay on run plays. So, run the ball more. Nope.
On one play the guards and Kelce just whiffed on Leonard Wiliams and little old 5'-6" Boston Scott had to pick him up. Luckily for Carson Boston's a force at blocking and he was able to save Carson's hide, but they just can't do stuff like that. You're going to get your QB killed if you do that too much.
Yesterday's game should have been a confidence builder. You were coming off a bye. Relatively healthy for once. Playing a team you almost never lose to. They were more beat up than us for once. And the Eagles came out flat, stayed flat, and never looked like they'd win the game. It's become the norm in the post-bye week for Doug's teams. We're 1-4 after the bye. We come out of the bye flat, lethargic, and not ready to play football. As a fan, it drives you a bit crazy. Especially when in the Andy Reid era we almost never lost after a bye. It's just really annoying.
On to Cleveland this week and this may be the most winnable game in the immediate future. A good solid performance in this game would help us down the road, but I'm not sure this team is capable of that. There's something missing in this year's team. They need more energy. They need to be having fun playing the game. They need to make it fun to watch them play. It's not fun now.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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