Eagles State of the Franchise 2013

[Dutch 874]

Brandon Boykin dominated Victor Cruz

 

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/red_zone/Brandon-Boykin-dominated-Victor-Cruz-and-did-other-good-stuff.html

 

In his short career, Victor Cruz has been an absolute Eagle killer. In his first four games against Philly, Cruz had 22 catches for 399 yards and 5 TDs. Cruz's salsa dance was born against the Eagles, and he has dominated them ever since. Before Sunday, here were Cruz's numbers, by game, against the Eagles:

 

The Eagles might have somebody who can cover Cruz now. That would of course be Brandon Boykin. Sunday wasn't the first time that Boykin covered Cruz, but this time, Boykin felt more prepared. "Coming into today, explained Boykin, "having already guarded him twice in my career, I kind of had a feel for what he would do, and his moves."

Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis singled Boykin out for having a great game. "Brandon Boykin had a great game on [Cruz]," said Davis. Brandon had him most of the game. There were a couple times where I gave him help, and a lot of times where I left him on his own, and Brandon stepped up.

 

Boykin was asked how often he was on Cruz. He said "Every time he was in the slot, I was on him. You can look at their '11 personnel,' and however many times that was, I was on him." (11 personnel is 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR, in case you're unfamiliar).

I decided to take Boykin up on his suggestion to look at the Giants' '11 personnel' plays, and it turns out that had an even better day in coverage than originally thought.

Cruz had 5 catches for 48 yards and 0 TDs on the day, which is very much a bad day for him. However, what is extremely impressive is that none of his catches came against Boykin.

In fact, Boykin wasn't even on the field for 3 of them. On the two catches Cruz made when Boykin was in the game, one was when Boykin blitzed, and the other was a time in which the Eagles were in zone coverage and Cruz caught a pass outside of Boykin's area.

I counted 39 plays in which the Giants were in '11 personnel,' and passed. Boykin lined up across from Cruz on all of them, but had varying responsibilities on those plays. Here's a breakdown of what Boykin's responsibility was on those 39 plays:

 

In other words, Boykin was lined up man to man, occasionally with help from Mychal Kendricks or a safety, and the Giants were able to accomplish the following:

5 targets, 0 completions, 1 INT, and a borderline 32 yard pass interference call in which both players were hand fighting. That is just a tremendous day against one of the best slot corners in the NFL.

Brandon Boykin has been our only bright spot on our secondary (Fletcher is doing better though). He's been making a lot of plays for us and so far has 3 turnovers; 2 pics and forced a fumble for Antonio Gates 1 yard away from the endzone. He's been going great and coverage and it's just awesome to see him shut down Victor Cruz who has destroyed us since his emergence against us (Nnamdi fail). I'm very excited to have a young talented player like him on our team. Can't wait to see him develop even further!

Edited October 8, 2013 by dutchff7

[seanbrock 1,684]

Great to see somebody step up in the secondary. Now we just need to get our best pass rushers on the field more often.

[seanbrock 1,684]

20-plus yards: 7 of 28 for 228 yards, one TD, one INT.

10-19 yards: 30 of 54 for 519 yards, three TDs, two INTs.

Minus yards: 21 of 22 for 162 yards, two TDs

 

This is a break down of where the Eagles are giving up their passing yards. I hope we keep Billy Davis around for more than just a year. Right now we have a lot of guys playing out of scheme and just a lack of talent in the secondary and it's tough for him. I think if we add another decent CB to Fletcher and Boykin and at least one safety we could be much improved. We should have plenty of money next year and if we could sell some of these 4-3 pieces we'd be doing ourselves a huge favor.

[seanbrock 1,684]

The defense played well but Nick Foles showed us today imo why he's not the guy. Not that Dallas didn't play great defensively. They did, but Foles just flat out missed on a lot of throws. Maybe it was the groin, idk,but I think we found out today that the QB of the future isn't on the roster just yet.

[AL_Royalty 489]

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Good for Andy. He needed a change of scenery, and so did the Eagles. If he still coached in Philly, you bet your ass we wouldn't be 7-0.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Good for Andy that he landed in another place where his defense can carry him, just like Jim Johnson did for 8 years. When Jim left the Eagles never made the playoffs again under Reid.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Foles has put up some decent stats, but in the end I just don't see him having the arm to be a viable starting QB in the NFL. I'd love to keep him as a back up, I think he'd be an elite back up QB, but it was clear multiple times in this game that Foles just doesn't have the arm talent we need in a QB to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl. That TD that Jackson had in the first quarter was very lucky. He had a step and Foles was not only late but just couldn't beat the Packers over the top. That should have been picked.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Foles has put up some decent stats, but in the end I just don't see him having the arm to be a viable starting QB in the NFL. I'd love to keep him as a back up, I think he'd be an elite back up QB, but it was clear multiple times in this game that Foles just doesn't have the arm talent we need in a QB to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl. That TD that Jackson had in the first quarter was very lucky. He had a step and Foles was not only late but just couldn't beat the Packers over the top. That should have been picked.

 

I agree. QB is still priority #1 going into next offseason. Having said that, I'm incredibly encouraged by the overall direction of the franchise. It's looking like hiring Chip was a good move. Get a QB, fix the defense, and we'll be a playoff team again. (Hopefully.)

[seanbrock 1,684]

 

Foles has put up some decent stats, but in the end I just don't see him having the arm to be a viable starting QB in the NFL. I'd love to keep him as a back up, I think he'd be an elite back up QB, but it was clear multiple times in this game that Foles just doesn't have the arm talent we need in a QB to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl. That TD that Jackson had in the first quarter was very lucky. He had a step and Foles was not only late but just couldn't beat the Packers over the top. That should have been picked.

 

I agree. QB is still priority #1 going into next offseason. Having said that, I'm incredibly encouraged by the overall direction of the franchise. It's looking like hiring Chip was a good move. Get a QB, fix the defense, and we'll be a playoff team again. (Hopefully.)

 

Yeah, most definitely. Love his commitment to running the football and actually our defense has improved a lot. Fletcher Cox looks much more comfortable in the 3-4 now than he did to start the season.We're forcing turnovers now and we're getting more pressure on the QB despite not having the pieces really for a true 3-4 defense. I say we keep Billy Davis around for a couple years and give him a chance to get the right personnel in there. If we can get a QB we will be in good shape but getting a QB isn't easy. With how bad this division is we could end up with a first rounder in the 20's which would make it tough to get an elite QB. At that point as much as I don't like Johnny Football, I'd love to see him fall to us in the draft. He'd fit this offense like a dream.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Yeah, most definitely. Love his commitment to running the football and actually our defense has improved a lot. Fletcher Cox looks much more comfortable in the 3-4 now than he did to start the season.We're forcing turnovers now and we're getting more pressure on the QB despite not having the pieces really for a true 3-4 defense. I say we keep Billy Davis around for a couple years and give him a chance to get the right personnel in there. If we can get a QB we will be in good shape but getting a QB isn't easy. With how bad this division is we could end up with a first rounder in the 20's which would make it tough to get an elite QB. At that point as much as I don't like Johnny Football, I'd love to see him fall to us in the draft. He'd fit this offense like a dream.

 

I find Johnny Football to be an insufferable douche bag. Do not want.

[seanbrock 1,684]

 

 

Jackson has been steady all season. Eagles quarterbacks have a 121.3 QB rating when targeting Jackson this season, including six touchdowns and only one interception. The 121.3 rating is the third-highest rating among wide receivers

Got this stat from PFF. Jackson is having a great year. This is a very impressive stat considering the instability of the Eagles QB situation. I definitely love what Chip Kelly is doing with this offense. Everyone is playing better than they did under Reid. Kelly just seems more and more like the real deal.

Edited November 11, 2013 by seanbrock

[Vin+ 3,121]

 

Eagles rookie FS Earl Wolff will miss "multiple weeks" with a knee injury.

Wolff has made six starts through ten Eagles games, recording 45 tackles and an interception. He was replaced in the lineup Sunday by Pat Chung.

Source: Jeff McLane on Twitter

[seanbrock 1,684]

Eagles QB's have attempted 352 passes for 2879 yards. That's 8.72 ypa with a completion % a shade under 60 %. TD:INT ratio has been good too with 21 TD's and 7 INT's. Eagles QB's have also ran for 3 scores.As far as running the ball goes the Eagles are the best in the league. They've fumbled twice and are running for a highly impressive 4.9 ypc. The Eagles are also incredibly balanced only having 15 more pass attempts than rushes

 

At this point, even with the Andy Reid and the Chiefs sitting at 9-2 it's clear that the Eagles made the right choice in hiring Chip Kelly. He's come in and been everything he was advertised to be. The Eagles are just playing efficient offensive football right now and it's not fluky or gimmicky college stuff. Chip Kelly came in and took his time putting his coaching staff together and establishing a culture and a philosophy for the future. So far this hire is looking really good. The Eagles defense is even playing better down the stretch. We're getting to the QB and we're forcing turnovers and most importantly we're keeping teams out of the end zone. We might not be super bowl contenders overnight, but we're building this team the right way. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Edited November 30, 2013 by seanbrock

[SteVo+ 3,702]

[seanbrock 1,684]

We had a way better year than I thought. I really didn't see us in the playoffs this summer and all fall really until we beat the Cardinals. We established a lot of things as a team this year. We established an identity which is really an extension of our coach in many ways. We've established our philosophy and most importantly we have some momentum going into the next year. Our locker room has some good leaders and go to guys established. I'm excited to see what Foles does next year with a full offseason's preparation as the starter.

[BC 331]

Good shit Philly

[Attyla the Hawk 197]

Philly looks to be in good shape. Lots of emerging talent. Found a legitimate QB. Holes are manageable. The division looks like it'll be weak for years to come. In all, a huge success considering the question marks heading into the season.

[GA_Eagle 595]

 

 

The booing opposing defenders every time one goes down looks really bad. That needs to stop.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I'll paste this from an Eagles board I frequent: my positional needs for the Iggles this offseason:

Wide Receiver
I would keep Cooper and Maclin, if possible, but we need a legitimate starting receiver besides DeSean. Maybe Chip can get the most out of a guy like Julian Edelman? I'd love Eric Decker, but I feel like he's gonna be expensive.

Outside Linebacker
Trent Cole is the only legitimate pass rusher in our linebacking corps, and as we all know, he's hot and cold. We need a guy who can get to the passer, pure and simple. The free agent class looks grim, unless you want to take a chance on injury prone but talented Brian Orakpo. Otherwise, this will have to be a draft need, though pass rushing rookies generally don't have an instant impact.

Inside Linebacker
I understand DeMeco Ryans is the QB of our defense, but his play leaves a lot to be desired, and cutting him saves us a lot of money (see previous post). I'm not sure he will fall to us, but C.J. Mosley would be a great fit.

Safety
Nate Allen and Patrick Chung are awful. The fact that Kurt Coleman is still on the team says it all. In a perfect world we land Jairus Byrd and T.J. Ward in free agency, but that is a pipe dream, and they'll both be insanely expensive.

Okay, now for the secondary needs...

Offensive Line
It's all about planning for the future. Will Jason Peters be around forever? If not, Lane Johnson switches to LT, so who's our RT? And what about Todd Herremans? His pass protection left a lot to be desired this year.

Cornerback
I didn't count this as a primary need because I think Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher are good enough to get it done on the right defense. Brandon Boykin is the best slot corner in the league, but we could use some legitimate starters.

Kicker
Henery has missed too many sub-50-yarders this year, and his inability to kick it out of the end zone in kickoffs is something that hurts you in this league.

[seanbrock 1,684]

I would love to see Maclin in this offense. Always thought Maclin was a better all around receiver than Jackson. The Downside of course though is he has a shitty injury history which has kept him from fulfilling his true potential. By all acounts Maclin should be better than what he's produced imo. He's tough and as physical as they come, he competes, he has the speed to take the top off a defense. Hands a pretty good, could be better. Route running could be better but not a weakness imo. I really see Chip being able to work with him but I don't think we should give him much guaranteed money.

[BwareDWare94 723]

The scariest thing for Eagle fans is that this season also looks like one of those that could culminate in some serious struggles next year. It might not happen, but if it does, it'll force Eagles brass to do some real work on that defense and ultimately make the team significantly better 2 years from now.

[seanbrock 1,684]

The scariest thing for Eagle fans is that this season also looks like one of those that could culminate in some serious struggles next year. It might not happen, but if it does, it'll force Eagles brass to do some real work on that defense and ultimately make the team significantly better 2 years from now.

The Eagles defense isn't great by any means, but if we can get an ILB who can run AND tackle at least 1 safety who could figure out where he's supposed to be in coverage and stay disciplined our defense will be much better. We have plenty of DL pieces, but we do also need another pass rusher. Lucky for us we have a ton of money to spend to fill a couple holes and a full compliment of draft picks as well. Our defense doesn't have to be great next year to be back in post season play and I'd be shocked if it was great, but we can definitely be a lot better if we play our cards right imo.

[GA_Eagle 595]

The cards fell just right for us, later in the season. We faced a number of back up QB's and struggling offenses. I would not be hugely surprised if we get better and more talented, as a team, while not getting better record wise. The schedule should be tougher and there's no way that the NFC East stays as bad as it was this year.

[Dutch 874]

Not having any expectations this season, I am satisfied with how it turned out. I don't think anyone was expecting a 10-6 season so I think it's safe to say the Eagles rose above all expectations. Chip definitely came into Philly and gave our franchise energy. He gave us fire and it truly feels like a new beginning. Chip gave us an identity. The one thing I love about Chip is that he makes adjustments. I saw Chip make changes during halftime and from game to game adjusting to defenses. He utilized his players correctly and put them in the best situations to succeed. He understands matchups and he's not afraid to attack. I love the aggression. We had offensive players that had career years this season and I credit that to Chip understanding their talents and using them correctly. He seems to have the cerebral part in check. That alone shows promise. I love the energy he brings to us and I'm, confident he's going to consider every avenue to make us a better football team. I'm glad that Chip Kelly is our coach. I'm also excited about Nick Foles. Everyone knows I've been a fan of his since last year in his rookie preseason and I'm glad he took this season by the reigns and had some degree of success. I truthfully hope he continues to build on that because year two will be a huge hurdle and will determine a lot about his future. Can't wait to see him in year two and eager to see what Chip Kelly brings in around him during the offseason.The Billy Davis moved shaped out to be a good one in my opinion. Our defense isn't great by any means but they've made good progress considered the scheme change and not having the personnel to run it. We did good with what we have and I can't wait until we actually get to plug players in to fit our scheme. I think we have potential there.

Edited January 8, 2014 by dutchff7