Eagle Fan Diary

  Another blowout in favor of da Birds! The Good : The Hype around the game was the 9 sacks Carson Wentz took, which, in conjunction with hurries and QB hits, made the Commander Offense ineffectual.  The Eagles D-Line played well, but Washington had a weak O-Line hampered by an injury to their starting center (Chase Roullier) , who the Commanders placed on IR after he got hurt late last week vs. Detroit.  Roullier’s replacement, Wes Schweitzer, is a Guard who had only 1 prior NFL start at Center, and could not be expected to handle the line calls and adjustments required as well as the experienced Roullier.  The Eagles smartly took advantage, and their D-Line certainly came ready to play.  But most of the 9 sacks were NOT, as has been heavily reported, about "Carson Wentz holding the ball way too long."   Wentz was tied for 7 th this past week in getting rid of the ball quick , which he did with an average of 2.2 seconds per drop back .  Wentz simply ...

  Things started out well and got better for the Eagles in a dominating first half of Monday Night Football that doubled as the final score in a 24-7 victory.   There were a lot of things to draw from this game, especially using week 1 as a mirror for improvement (or failure to improve).   Game 2 thoughts… This victory showed a combination of strategic, tactical and operational efficiency.   The Eagles have a strategic goal of defeating teams “from the inside out,” focusing on excellent offensive and defensive line play.   They’ve implemented their strategy by acquiring personnel on both lines to provide good starters & more than adequate depth.   Tactically, they develope offensive and defensive game plans to play to their strengths (typically starting with their lines), and find/expose opponent weaknesses. In this game, the offensive tactical focus was to beat a zone defense with short-intermediate passes to receivers that would have time to out-po...

  Game 1 thoughts… If anyone thinks the HBO show “Hard Knocks” has run its course after 20+ seasons, reference a raucous sold-out home crowd in the Motor City’s game 1 Eagle affair after being dead last in attendance last year!   The show was a credit to what the Lions are doing in building what will eventually be a winner, and it showed! The defense had 4 consecutive series that went- 3-and-out, 3-and-out, 3-and-out, Interception returned for TD.   Aside from those series, the defense was horrible, both before and after.   A combination of poor game planning, sloppy tackling, scheme deficiencies and poor coaching were to blame. Poor game planning: The strength of the Lions offense is their offensive line , and, commensurate with that, they indicated confidence in their terrific starting running back (D’Andre Swift).   Gannon’s defense played an attacking 4 man front that took the Eagles good quality defensive linemen out of position against the equally tal...

  The NFL preseason is in our rear view mirror. Most will rightfully state the triumvirate of games each team plays is about as revealing as American political campaign promises.  Still, some info-nuggets trickle out to help solidify team decisions that lead to their required reductions of 90 man rosters by over 40%, to the NFL standard of 53. In reviewing where the Eagles decisions differentiated from my modest predictions: QB- Hurts, Minshew and… Ian Book?   I correctly assumed Reid Sinnett would be on the practice squad.   Howie wants to carry a third QB on the 53, but is this a waste of space?   With all respect to Mr. Book, the goal of any Eagle 3 rd QB is to eventually become a #2.   I do not see this happening with the Ex-Saint 4 th round pick.   Minshew is likely having his final year as a Philly #2 (he wants to start somewhere), while Hurts will try to evolve from starting QB to franchise QB. Wide Receivers- All knew there was at least...

  Sorry for my recent absence, it’s been a few weeks.   And the Eagles lost a preseason game, but it really was a morale victory!   The starters got a 7-0 lead before exiting by handing the Eagle 2nd stringers the ball on the Jet 20.   The backups punched it in and left with a 14-3 cushion.   The Eagle depth players lost to the Jet depth players, predominantly in the second half, 21-7.   What counted was the guys who will make the 53-man roster played well. We’ll be seeing 3 consecutive weeks of cuts to get to 53.   Yesterday we went from 90 to 85.   Next Tuesday, the 23 rd , we’ll go from 85 to 80.   Then, on the penultimate day of August, it’ll be down to 53!   After mentioning yesterday’s 5 cuts (no surprises… OT Bill Dunkle, SAM LB Ali Fayad, CB Jim Moreland, WR Lance Lenoir & Safety Jared Mayden) and the trade to dispose of future cut & former 2 nd round pick JJ Arcega Whiteside (one of Howie’s 2 biggest draft mistakes th...

  The following is a continuation of a pre-training camp series view of Eagle roster thoughts, here for the Offensive Line.  “The Ugly” here would consistently be “Player has a significant injury effecting performance, availability or both.”  Also, projections can be extreme (Example, who could have predicted Carson Wentz would be as bad as he was in 2020, historically bad).  I am trying to consider realistic forecasts. The Starters: Lane Johnson (Right Tackle), Isaac Seamalo (Right Guard), Jason Kelce (Center), Landon Dickerson (Left Guard), Jordan Mialata (Left Tackle) Lane Johnson : Bad- Lane Johnson just turned 32.   One would expect he is nearing the end of his prime (Although his play on the field belies this).   Johnson has missed games, either via injury or, more recently due to managing his medication for anxiety.   After twice testing positive for performance enhancing assistance, Johnson has that issue under control, but h...

  The following is a continuation of a pre-training camp series view of Eagle roster thoughts, here for the quarterbacks.  “The Ugly” here would consistently be “Player has a significant injury effecting performance, availability or both.”  Also, projections can be extreme (Example, who could have predicted Carson Wentz would be as bad as he was in 2020, historically bad).  I am trying to take realistic forecasts. Miles Sanders : Bad- Sanders is a dilemma.   0 touchdowns for a starting rb last year is clearly a poor optic, but one tied to opportunity and circumstance- While the 0 touchdowns appears, at best strange and at worst an issue, a combination of the Eagle RB committee (Jordan Howard, Kenny Gainwell and Boston Scott scored 21 touchdowns in 2021) and Jalen Hurts, who ran for 10 more.   Make no mistake, Sanders, a 2 nd round pick, wants to cash in after this season having been limited to a rookie salary wage for 4 years thru (and inc...