A Checkpoint- Post Tennessee Blow Out

 

Thoughts as we cross the season’s 2/3 mark…

Is Christian Ellis the (ST) man?  An undrafted former 49er, his dad Luther was (twice) a Pro Bowl defensive tackle with Detroit.  Christian’s younger brother Noah was an interesting Rookie Free Agent Howie Roseman acquisition, a 350 pound possibility to back up Jordan Davis at the nose till he had to be IR’d during training camp (hopefully we’ll see him back next year). Christian was an Eagle practice squader game-day elevation who looked like he belonged from the first snap, finishing with 3 ST tackles across frankly outstanding special teams play vs. Tennessee.  He also got 10 reps at the end of the Eagles’ win over the Titans and looked like he belonged with three additional (defensive) tackles.

Britain Covey had the 2nd most punt return yds in an NFL game this year after being a magnet for derision by Eagle fans hunting for flaws on an 11-1 team.  Covey’s success in this game is being largely attributed to the Tennessee punter repeatedly out kicking his coverage.  There is some truth to that.  But 3 other truths apply.
1-Despite some initial mistakes his first few games, Covey is extremely sure handed and will almost always do the most important thing when returning a punt- catch the ball. 
2- Covey has “quicks.”  Straight line speed is not his forte, but he has the ability to make the first man miss.  With the right blocking that first miss will frequently get the 5-10 yards that add up to a difference in Net Field Position over the course of a season.
3- The Eagle ST blocking is getting better.  This group is taking time to develop the experience together to do the right things.  The cost has been a lot of wrong things, but they are learning and will continue to reduce mistakes, turning those former errors into positive plays.

Is ST resolved via 1 game?  No, but a few things were.  ST flaws have been around punt coverage, kick coverage and the return game.  It should be acknowledged that, at least so far, Arryn Siposs and Jake Elliot have been Good-Very Good.  Boston Scott has been an improvement on kick returns via his no hesitation, straight ahead north/south style, insuring at least average results. Britain Covey was a revelation, finally showing his skills when the Tennessee punter out kicked his coverage.  Expect 2 steps forward, 1 step back as the return game continues to improve.  The coverage units may ultimately be the weakest link here, as players learn discipline and raw ST talent is exhumed amongst the participants.  Enter Christian Ellis, who for 1 game at least appears the right combination of instinct and talent to be a difference maker in coverage.  The Eagles will need to sift through their roster, and perhaps beyond, to seek a few more “jewels” like Ellis they can leverage in this regard.

Do it via run (363) or pass (380 w/ 10+ min left). This Offensive dichotomy is leading to historic numbers. How to stop this team?  Take away a strength, and you are vulnerable to another.  Is there a starter on this offense that, in a given future season does NOT have pro bowl potential? That is perhaps the most amazing thing here… All 11 players are future potential Pro Bowlers.  Talk about up side!

Penalties- The entire Offensive line was called for at least one penalty each IN THE FIRST HALF!  Whether this was a result of a new officiating crew, carelessness or some adjustments to Hurts cadence, it was unacceptable.  Fortunately, they were able to overcome these penalties.  This gives them the opportunity to analyze root cause and prevent a repeat performance, one where they likely would not be as fortunate regarding impact. 

AJ Brown Revenge: 8-119-2 (and another TD called back).  Then, the guy that traded him away, Jon Robinson, gets fired.  Wow.  That clears the slate!

Power Rankings- Only other team with < 3 losses is the Vikings, and Philly destroyed them early in the season on Mon night Football.  The Viking pass D is weak.  In fact their D in general has holes (Run D is 16^th, an improvement over their bottom tier status in ‘21).  They can’t match up with Philly. 

The Eagles revised depth in the interior by adding Linvale Joseph and Nad Suh is beyond impressive.  6 deep even without 2nd year DT Marlon Tuipuloto (On IR the remainder of 2022).  Joseph and Davis combined for < 20 (but effective!) snaps since the Eagles got a lead early.  The name power here (Cox, Joseph, Suh, Hargrave) may exceed the player power due to their respective ages, but they all clearly have something left in the tank given recent excellent individual play.  By carefully managing both their snap count and how they are used, & supplementing the vets with 2 quality youngsters too (Jordan Davis, Milton Williams), the Eagles may have the most talented, deepest set of interior defensive lineman in recent memory. Each knows he can expend 100% energy / effort with the knowledge he can anticipate imminent rest.  This can take each of the vets, for individual plays at least, to the pinnacle of their former play. 

It appears I was wrong about Hurts… I saw him as a slightly poorer version of Russell Wilson, a lower end of the top 10 NFL QB’s.  He has to prove what he’s doing right now with Playoff success, but he is blowing past that purported ceiling!  It is amazing that 2.5 years after being drafted to be the backup to the teams hand picked, cultivated and crowned franchise QB (Carson Wentz), Hurts has calmly, quietly stolen that mantle via both his play and his personality.  He is a young man with the wisdom of an ancient, and a natural leader.  The apoplectic Wentz apparently was one of the first to see it, disavowing himself from and then fleeing the franchise that had crowned him.  The irony here is sweet.

Per Reuben Frank- Eagles have only given up 1 Td in the 2nd half in the last SIX games!!  (By Packer wr Christian Watson on a catch and run, using a combo of his 4.25 speed and rookie Reed Blankenship's bad angle).

Carson Wentz had an MVP caliber season.  He never repeated it.  I was a huge fan, but even while it was happening I had a gnawing sense his success was predicated on abnormal 3rd down success rate, not sustainable.  Not so with Hurts, who so frequently doesn’t even need 3rd down!

Per Mike Vrabel, why was an officiating crew (led by Adrian Hill) that had never b4 worked together assembled “in the fly” for the Eagles Titans game?  The crew made several bad calls, both ways.

Hurts playoff performance vs Tampa Bay last year is often referenced without considering he went into and played that game requiring ankle surgery.  How much of his mobility was compromised in that game do to that injury?  He was judged poorly in that game without the understanding he was far less than the 100% Jalen Hurts that day physically.

Perhaps the biggest threat to the Eagles in The NFC entering week 13 was the SF 49ers.  It is a shame when seasons are derailed by injury.  The Niners have now lost 2 QBs for the year (Trey Lance and Jimmy Gorappalo) to leg injuries.  This puts that squad at a tremendous disadvantage in competing with the other elite teams.

Hurts is 2nd in the NFL for QBs taking hits (just under 14/game).  But he is smart and very rarely takes BIG hits.  Tennessee’s Bud Dupree got him with one yesterday though.  Fortunately, Hurts popped right up, but hopefully he reviews the play to avoid future repetitions of that scenario.

While Tennessee was hurt by injuries, the Eagles were similarly playing Reed Blankenship, Jack Stoll and Josiah Scott do to injuries to star players CJ Gardner Johnson, Dallas Goedert and Avonte Maddox.  The replacements have all been successful, but in varying degrees:

• Stoll is not a #1 TE, and perhaps not even an upper echelon TE2.  But what he does well can be important to this team- he blocks.  Not everyone is competing for the Pro Bowl.  Stoll is a  good role player and when Goedert returns will reassume it well.  In Goedert’s absence, the combination of Stole and the remaining TEs on the roster have combined with Quez Watkins to serve as Jalen’s tertiary target.  
• Josiah Scott does not trade out as well as Avonte Maddox in the slot, but he has held the fort.  He’s been a prototypical lesser version of the starter, justifying his roster spot.  
• Reed Blankenship has been the story.  It’s only been 2 games, but Blankenship has shocked with very good play replacing the NFL’s interception leader, CJ Gardner Johnson (6 picks in 10+ games).  Blankenship has played smart football, been a leading tackler, and had a game changing pick of Aaron Rodgers vs. Green Bay.  He’s been a revelation and will deservedly compete for Safety snaps after Johnson’s return, illuminating excellent depth at what was previously perceived as one of the Eagles weakest positions.

So after struggling vs. Indianapolis, the Eagles have compensated for the loss of Dallas Goedert (last week with Quez Watkins as the 3rd option and scoring 40 vs. Green Bay, and this week with a combo of Watkins and TEs Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra).

Nakobe Dean got some time when Kyzir White got dinged mid-game vs. Ten.  In limited time (15 snaps) at LB, Dean looked quite good, making 5 tackles, 1 for a loss.  He tied Kyzir White (both behind TJ Edwards) for 2nd on the team in tackles for the game with 5.

Miles Sanders was the only Eagle offensive player that did not botch a play or get penalized.  Yet the Eagles played so well they pocketed 35 points with 10 min remaining and called on the subs.  Imagine the results of a thoroughly complete offensive performance!

How good is the Eagle defense?  Well, consider this.  If you watched Ryan Tannehill’s performance last Sunday, you almost felt sorry for him.  By the end of the game he was the photo attached to the title “dazed and confused” after an ineffective 14 point performance that included suffering 6 sacks and a far greater number of QB hits.  Amazingly, THAT was the best statistical passing performance vs. the Eagles defense this year, with a passer rating of 97.0.  If that remains the best an opponent can achieve vs. Gannon’s defense this year, they’ll be waving a Super Bowl banner in Philly in February!

First time in 27 years the Eagles have five different players with five sacks in a season: Haason Reddick (9.0), Javon Hargrave (8.0), Josh Sweat (6.5), Brandon Graham (5.5) and Fletcher Cox (5.0).  The Eagles are 2nd in the NFL with 42 sacks, 6 behind Dallas.

Final Comment: Their are 4 points of leadership on an NFL team that define bigger areas, and create organizational culture: Ownership, General Manager, Coach and Quarterback.  In this most unusual season, the Eagles may just be #1 in all 4 categories!  Wow, just wow!