1-3 is not an ideal start, but should not be far from expected at this point in the year. A young team with young coaches is bound to have some growing pains, but this week can be an indication as to whether or not this team is getting better. This game is one of the Eagles’ most winnable ones of this beginning stretch, but it will be far from easy to pull out a W against a strong 3-1 Carolina Panthers. Here is how we can get it done.
Defensive Aggression
The storyline of the week has been the rumored frustration coach Sirianni has with defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon for running a conservative, “bend; don’t break” type of defense. Whether or not this is true, the defense has had players not play to their strengths. The Eagles usually have played a cover-3 scheme with corners backed off the line, and have had a somewhat confusing defensive line rotation. On top of this, we are aware that Sam Darnold “sees ghosts” when the pressure gets too hot. So the diagnosis? Blitz, Blitz and more Blitzes. Houston was able to throw Darnold off that way, and we have a much better defense than Houston. Let Cox, Hargrave and Sweat go free to the QB, and the defense will look so much better.
Lock up Moore
Since star RB Christian McCaffrey is out again, Carolina will rely on only a few offensive weapons. Specifically, one star wide receiver DJ Moore. Moore is a dangerous route runner with a ton of speed, but he is just the kind of guy Darius Slay can shut down one on one. If we have Darius Slay play up on Moore and not allow him to get killer releases, this Carolina offense will have to make adjustments on the fly. When Slay clamped up Calvin Ridley week one, the typically potent Falcons offense faltered massively. If we do it again, we will win.
Limit the penalties
I normally wouldn’t list something as seemingly obvious as this, but we are the most penalized team in the league. 3 touchdowns were taken off the board last week due to avoidable penalties. The emphasis this week must be on lining up correctly, keeping your hands in the right place, and NOT FIGHTING THE OTHER TEAM WHEN THE PLAY IS OVER (unsportsmanlike conduct, defense number 96…). We are a very young team, and this is par for the course, but in order to win and get 1% better every day, we got to limit the laundry.
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Jish Sokolsky is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Jish, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
