5 Thoughts After Eagles (the sky isn't falling, don't worry)

[Rhami]

1. The Eagles are a damn good team. Their lines on both sides are big and powerful, so this was a tough matchup for us. We got dominated on both lines...after the 1st 2 drives Stafford had no time to throw and we couldn't run the ball. There was a point in the 3rd quarter where I said to myself, the Eagles are just clearly the better team and I don't think I've ever said that in the McVay era. With that said...

2. The sky isn't falling. Luckily our division is very tight and we're just 1 game back of first place, if we can keep improving and learn from this game then we still have a solid chance of making the playoffs.

3. Our OLine needs work. This was supposed to be a strength of the team but our guys struggled. Going 1 by 1:
- AJackson: I feel like he played well overall but gave up some wide pressures. I need to watch him more closely to say whether we need to target a LT early in the draft next year.
- Avila: he is supposed to be a stud but he had a terrible game. Hopefully it was an off-game because the Eagles have some monster DTs. He's still a building block for us.
- Limmer: see what I said about Avila.
- Dotson: I think he was our best OL and a building block.
- McClendon: he struggled mightily and with Big Rob getting older, we may need to look for the heir apparent.

4. Our DLine got bullied. The Eagles could basically run at will against us. I told my friends watching that if I were the Eagles OC, I would basically run every play if I could. And I believe the Eagles ran 44 plays vs 22 passes. I like our young guys but here's what I'd like to see in an ideal world:
- Byron Young: this may be an unpopular opinion but I'd prefer him being our 3rd OLB in the rotation to come in on passing downs. And no I'm not saying Hoecht should start ahead of him but bringing someone in the offseason.
- Big DT: I know we have Bobby Brown but I'd like to see a big 330+ lbs DT in the middle of that defense that can anchor. Not sure Brown can do that and our other DTs in Fiske and Turner are on the smaller side.

I know it's just one game but this has been on my mind all season.

5. 3rd downs are a problem. Going 0 for 8 on 3rd downs is unacceptable, and I would give them a pass since the Eagles pass rush was killing us but it's been a trend all year. I'm not sure how to fix that but it starts with better execution.

 

[dang]

Other concerns:
- K has lost confidence. Again!!
- ILB continues to be SOFT. Roze has athletic ability but 0 natural instincts
- Either cannot or will not use TEs. Could be Perfect safety valve for Staff
- KW fumbles. Confidence? Injury?
- Fucking move Staff more. He seems to do well rolling out.
- OTs. Needs to be priority 1 in offseason.
- etc. etc.

 

[snackdaddy]

I would refrain from overreacting. We aren't a bad team. But we're not in the caliber of the team that beat us last night. A loss was expected. We just didn't want such a lopsided one.

We are a borderline playoff team. We're still in the hunt. We control our own destiny. We can afford one more loss. And that is likely to the Bills. The teams we are capable of beating are NO/SF/NYJ/AZ/Sea.

It won't be easy by any stretch because any of those teams are capable of beating us too. The thing is, we're still right there in the mix. Win those games and we'll be playing at home in the playoffs for one game.

 

[Merlin]

3. Our OLine needs work. This was supposed to be a strength of the team but our guys struggled. Going 1 by 1:
- AJackson: I feel like he played well overall but gave up some wide pressures. I need to watch him more closely to say whether we need to target a LT early in the draft next year.
- Avila: he is supposed to be a stud but he had a terrible game. Hopefully it was an off-game because the Eagles have some monster DTs. He's still a building block for us.
- Limmer: see what I said about Avila.
- Dotson: I think he was our best OL and a building block.
- McClendon: he struggled mightily and with Big Rob getting older, we may need to look for the heir apparent.

Avila was rumored to have struggled all through camp. I recall hearing how badly Fiske was beating him, and chalked that up to him just thinking too much at Center. And obviously he fell short there, probably on the calls and leading the line, but either way he is getting to the point now where it might be appropriate to call this a sophomore slump. Avila is not a good lineman right now and there isn't a lot of time for him to get his game together.

Jackson represents a significant investment at LT. And the Rams just pulled the same type of decision with Noteboom, saying to themselves well he's shown well in spot starts so why not cross our fingers. Well right now we are seeing that if you pay a marginal starter, and that includes paying him even mediocre type money, it's gonna hurt when you realize he's a depth player at best and even in that depth usage Boom has badly let this team down. Jackson I think has played better over time than Boom ever did. But still he had the blood clots early on, he's missed some time not to mention the suspension this year when we badly needed him and we felt his loss. So personally I respect his game but I don't trust him to get paid and not put his feet up. Paying him worries me.

Limmer is a rook. I appreciate what he has done, but if he finishes this season on a down slope we will enter the offseason needing a Center. It is what it is.

Dotson was a guy I was worried about how he'd respond to being paid. Well I think the dude played through pain early on and has been an anchor for this line. Along with Williams he represents the good of our most recent FA haul.

McClendon out there lunging last game killed me. So many flaws in his form, it's like most of the guys on this line where the moment they draw someone who's a challenge their mechanics go in the shitter.

Then you have the OL Coach consideration. Not just has he done the most he can with the pieces he has, either. The OL Coach inevitably will drive their identification in the draft of what they are looking for. So the question with him is do you trust him to make the LT selection for you. Or even the LT decision period, i.e. the question of do we pay Jackson for LT or draft LT etc.

 

[fearsomefour]

Avila has been bad since his return. A good play run blocking here and there but he clearly isn't as good as last year.