Finshed watching the last Eagles-Commanders game.
Some takeaways based on my opinion
A. Chinn was awful in that game, I wonder if that was part of the reason why they didn't want to pay him
B. Allegretti was awful in that game. Am glad he's likely going to be a backup.
C. The O line overall was OK, not great but passable. It certainly wasn't the disaster KC's O line was in the SB against them. Coleman was mostly good, but gave up a sack and some pressures but not bad. Trent Scott up and down, he got a lot of help though. Wylie looked pretty good. Biadaz was bad, not awful but bad. But with all of that, i think the O line mostly held up.
D. Jalen Carter was mostly handled. Often by double teams.
E. The Eagles seemed to win that game thanks to turnovers of course and great coverage. The Eagles young corners were shut down. They were helped though by them playing cover 2. Eagles game plan seem to be to take away the big play in the passing game, especially outside the numbers.
F. A good running team IMO could have thwarted the Eagles game plan. Eagles bet against Washington's running game and played to stop 2nd level-3rd level passes outside the numbers
G. The way to beat their coverage was with YAC on the first level especially outside the numbers and in the intermediate in between the two safeties -- up the middle from the TE. It worked for Ertz, he exploited it. But no one else really stepped up on that front. In the first game against them if you recall, Ekeler had a big game as to short passes and gave the Eagles issues. No one really stepped up the same way in this game -- Not Ekeler, Not Zaccheus, Not Crowder, Not McCaffrey. All meh.
H. The whole offense was really Jayden and Ertz. I wasn't always paying attention to Wylie but he seemed to be the standout on that unit when I focused on it.
I. Defense was OK getting pressure on Hurts. Nothing great but made him uncomfortable more times that I remember watching the game initially. Carl Davis, #91, was surprisingly decent. Jonathan Allen and Johnny Newton had moments. Luvu had some good reps. i was surprised to see that the alternated Newton from playing 0 and 3. Hurts seemed unrattled when there is pressure except when you flush him out of the pocket, he looked erratic throwing on the move moving away from pressure in that game.
J. I posted this clip below as an example of Barkley's 3rd TD. I showed clips of the other 2. I think it was Logan and someone else who said part ot the defenses problem stopping the run is that they all aren't following their assignments and if they did it likely would look different. I sort of get that after freeze framing the Eagles running game and watching it clip by clip. So many Washington defenders seemed to get bunched up in one place, leaving big gaps. It's sort of like in a fire drill back in school, where we are instructed to stay in a neat line so we don't trip all over each other. These guys are the opposite, they pile on top of each other leaving big gaps for runners to exploit.
Somehow this point gets wrapped around the players, and no one blames Whitt. i am not saying i know who to blame. But if a defense gets gashed because players aren't in the right gaps over and over again, how is coaching not involved at all? Going back to the first clip i posed yesterday and my commentary. That Barkley run for a TD, looked poorly schemed up. They walked into the exact formation that i kept hearing Barkley likes to exploit which is when the LBs creep closer to the line of scrimmage, and once Barkley breaks free there is hardly anyone there to stop the long run. Add to that this defense tendency to crash on each other with these plays -- felt like a perfect storm. To their credit, they did adjust and have the LBs play back more after that run.
K. Lattimore when I watched him seemed to do good when it was the stem of the route, he was neck and beck with the WR, mostly AJ Brown, but would lose after the stem when the receiver would break. In other words, it looked like he kept guessing wrong as to where the route was going. Sainstrill looked decent including against the run. Quan Martin had some moments, too.
From my amateur point of view here are my takeaways for next season.
A. Clean up the D line as to stopping the run, some of it does look to me scheme related. The one player specific criticism I have to them setting the edge is those guys aren't good at shedding blocks and can get washed out of the play. The good news is Newton was one of the better ones at shedding blocks and hopefully the new D lineman are good at it, too.
B. Having Deebo and Lane to deal with the Eagles feels perfect after watching that game. IMHO, you got to kill the Eagles underneath and or with the running game. The Eagles rely on the front 4 for pressure and to stop the run. i think they are better at bringing pressure than stopping the run. But Braun makes up for it when the D line lets a runner get through.
C. Playing off of point B. The Eagles look very organized and assignment sound on defense. Much more so than our defense. Some in the local mediaI I'd guess would brush off this point and say dude they just got better players. Yeah they do have better players. But there can be two rights to the same point, it doesn't have to be one and not the other. But the point I am making is running QBs, WRs and RBs with wiggle can weave their way through traffic and exploit this. Jayden showed this more than anyone from watching that game. He didn't run much but when he did, he was dangerous and found cutback lanes.
D. Eagles secondary is really good. Having an extra half a second would help. Give Terry and company some time to beat those corners and safeties. Plus even if he doesn't, the more time he has to stretch the field the more it opens up things underneath.
E. As wacky as it sounds, Croskey-Merrit might be the key to beating that team. I know it feels like am piling on Robinson but its easy to see why he has bad games against that defense. IMO the Eagles are very gap sound and disciplined as to their defense. And Brian is so predictable as a runner and doesn't improvise much. That's easy to clamp down on for an organized assignment sound defense. Especially when they play zone, get them off their spots and create bedlam.
F. Sheehan pointed this out if I recall and rewatching that game, I agree. I hate to put Jayden out there like that but wow was he dangerous on the move and his style of running pose problems for that defense. He ran for 8 yards a carry but didn't run much. The Eagles clearly bet on Jayden staying in the pocket and not running much and they bet right. But with everything on the line, if there is a rematch, I'd unleash Jayden as a runner as much as possible.
G. Playing off of point F. You need to get that running game to force the Eagles out of cover 2 and bring a safety in. Kryen Williams was a handful for the Eagles in the playoffs and rewatching this Commanders-Eagles playoff game, I get why the Rams gave the Eagles the biggest fight, they ran the ball down their throat and that takes the Eagles off their game. In short, I know from watching other games the heart of that defense is about winning with the front 4, and playing 7 in coverage. Many preach about doing the same but the Eagles actually do it successfully. So get them out of their comfort zone by running the ball successfully.
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