Eagles 2019-2020 Season

[phillychuck]

They need to target Goddert more. He's open a lot on the all-22 review tape. I don't expect a WR off the practice squad to provide much help. Take the guy off our PS who runs a 4.3/4.4 40 and just use him to stretch the D.

[bkeich]

It would look weird, and maybe throw off the defense of the other team, but we really might have to start running some 2TE, 2RB sets. Those are our best players, and there really isn’t much reason Sanders, Scott, Ertz and Goeddert can’t stretch the field (well, maybe not Ertz). All of them can at least run occasional 20-25 yard routes.

The bigger issue I think is getting time for Wentz to throw. The OL just seems to be leaking rushers too often. Not sure why we aren’t rolling out Wentz more often.

That said, save anything different or innovative for Dallas. We don’t know to show anything really new next week, which sadly isn’t going to be an easy game despite the records.

I am fairly worried about @ NYG too. The team that played the first half of last night can’t beat anyone. They were lucky that Eli missed his usual number of open players.

[phillychuck]

If they win at WASH and beat Dallas the week 17 game will not be relevant. Dallas will lose at least one additional game.

[Lawman]

Yup. We're going to have to go more West Coast - short yardage plays, screen plays, dink-and-dunk. Sanders and Scott both seems to be ideal for those types of plays.

[el-pietro]

Might not need to worry about the Giants yet, assuming they can beat Washington that is. Theres a real chance that the Rams beat Dallas. If that happens then the Eagles/Giants game is basically irrelevant. Lose to Dallas and its season over barring a miracle Washington Week 17 win. Beat Dallas and its playoffs.

Now that I put it in writing though I'm not sure how much of a miracle a Dallas loss in Week 17 would be, given that they lost to the Jets.

[flyers19rw]

The bigger issue I think is getting time for Wentz to throw. The OL just seems to be leaking rushers too often. Not sure why we aren’t rolling out Wentz more often.

If the run game can replicate what it did in the second half last night, opponents will have to dial back their pass rush.

[xogfog]

I want to look at the glass as being half full, I don't think Dallas can beat the Rams team the way the Rams have been playing the last two weeks, even with the game in Dallas, but what worries me is the game against Dallas. I know it is at home, but Dak seems to have our number, the same way Fitzpatrick does.

[el-pietro]

Don't believe the Eagles have ever beaten Zeke either.

[zambonir]

The Cowboys haven't played well since they beat the Eagles. The Eagles have at least played some good defense against a couple of top teams and (barely) stopped the bleeding here. Be silly to have any sort of optimism but I think the Eagles at home in a rematch favors them.

Or maybe we'll just lose to the Redskins though that doesn't matter either.

I still don't really care, we keep talking about next year's draft and how much this team is missing (and how old so many other guys are), making the playoffs this season is meaningless (as much because the elite teams are elsewhere as because the East is pathetic) and they'll be hard-pressed to win 11 games next year too (though a nice 7-9 finish this year would also help the schedule no?). A reset year with a good draft pick would resonate for several seasons.

[zambonir]

According to this the Cowboys now have all the tiebreakers (with head-to-head being moot if we win) so you really do want them to lose to the Rams. If not, the Eagles still have to win their last game (and beat the Cowboys) to finish 9-7 while Dallas is 8-8. If both teams are 8-8 or 7-9 it will be the Cowboys.

And of course if the Cowboys lose to the Rams and Eagles beat them it's over early.

Six NFC East playoff scenarios for the Eagles and Cowboys

[allentown]

I'm not getting overly excited about Eagles' chances. That was a bad win over an awful team after a loss to an awful team and this win came with key injuries. The standard 2019 Eagles-way produced an awful first half. The game plan changed almost completely for 2nd half and apparently took Giants by surprise on both offense and defense. The other teams we play will be able to game plan for this different approach. Meanwhile, it seems we possibly have zero healthy WRs, a QB who is bad when he stays in the pocket, our best OL likely out for the season. Squeaking out a win against the Giants at the cost of Lane Johnson and Jefferies is hardly a plus. It averted season-over, but that's all.

I do like the tighter defensive backfield approach they adopted late in regulation and the way they used Boston Scott. Maybe we'll just go heavy formations the rest of the season with nor WRs.

[xogfog]

That was a bad win over an awful team after a loss to an awful team

I know it seems like a bad win, but games against the Giants and Redskins have always been closer than they should be. Even in 2017 when the Eagles were rolling teams, it took a 61 yard field goal as time ran out to beat the Giants who weren't much better than they were yesterday.

[zambonir]

Yeah but as someone on Philly.com wrote, the Mets have won a game more recently than the Giants.

Also any win that's not in regulation is less than great, if still better than losing. And it was at home. I certainly view the two remaining road games as non-gimmes.

[BostonRoss]

For me personally, I can't root against the Eagles (or Phillies) when they are still in the hunt. If I only rooted for them when they had a good chance to win it all, I would have had a miserable life as a fan, given how often they were not competitive in my lifetime.

[zambonir]

It feels pretty easy for me this year, this late in the year. Wanting the Phillies to tank in years when they can't make the playoffs is understandable but also negligible - yeah, you get a higher pick and pool but MLB drafts are so unpredictable. And I would never want to not make the playoffs if it is possible - the playoff game is a coin flip and being in the division round is 3-5 nights of entertainment if nothing else.

But I really feel like whichever teams loses the division this year wins, if it's at 8-8. And if the Cowboys somehow upset the wild card team I wouldn't even mind that because then Garrett probably stays and we can look forward to things falling apart there.

Also, the Phillies experience seems germane here. These Eagles turned into the 2013 Phillies quick. And the Phillies are still paying for 2014. The Eagles are not gonna tear it down, obviously, but they need a better plan for 2021-2022, not just next year.

Of course I won't actually root for them to lose. Especially not to the Cowboys. But it wouldn't make me sad. I'm already at the gallows humor stage.

[phillychuck]

Football is the sport where rebuilds happen fastest. Worst to first is a frequent reality.

[zambonir]

Agreed, so give me that 13th pick instead of 21.

[LegoDoom]

IMO, NFL rebuilds happen quickly with quality coaching changes or QBs. The difference between the 12th and 22nd pick isn't much unless you want to take a QB that most teams overlook (eg Mahomes, Watson, and Lamar Jackson). The Eagles don't need a QB, so I don't care much about draft position and would rather see them in the playoffs.

[allentown]

I have a very mixed view on the Eagles limping into the playoffs. I know this team isn't close to ready to advance in the playoffs, but would enjoy watching a playoff game. This year revealed very serious problems with the football-side management people in the organization. The team is a bad combination of old and bad, the play calling has been too predictable, Wentz is less sound and productive than he was as a rookie, and the defense too often seems to defensive and risk averse (fear of big play) that it looks like a prevent defense with huge cushions behind the receivers permitting short passes to be completed at will. I don't want a playoff appearance to allow the powers that be to convince themselves that the situation is basically okay. The team did not have a good 2018/2019 season but foolishly followed a promotion-from-within philosophy. Pederson started his head coach reign with an excellent staff and has allowed it to slide back drastically. Despite the championship, I'm not impressed by our GM. Our drafts have been poor. He has missed on too many FA signings and trades. He seems to be a cap management guru who now exemplifies the Peter Principle.

[zambonir]

I know they won last year and I know anything could happen but I just think the playoff game would not be something I'd actually enjoy. And I agree a shake-up is needed. If they go 9-7 do they just look at it as a bad luck/injury year?

And I'd rather have the 12th pick and trade down, if it comes to that. I also think it makes a considerable difference in the 2nd round.

Anyway, que sera sera. To me the Cowboys are the x factor, as they are in the same boat. If they fire Garrett the next coach may not actually be better, because (as with most teams) it's never really about the coach.

And the same goes for the Eagles too. Howie's second term is gonna be as long as Reid's was if I had to guess, the question is will Joe Douglas's replacement be better and what other changes will the make (including coaches).