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.

 

[99Balloons]

I would put Dedich in place of Avila at this time at LG. It seemed like when McVay penciled him at Center at the beginning of the preseason, it stymied Avila’s progress at his natural Guard position. So right now with Jonah Jackson always one injury away from not being full health, the O-Line chemistry and cohesiveness is not in sync.

But the Eagles OL and DL lines are big, heavy, quick and powerful. The Eagles I think are going to be in the Superbowl representing the NFC against the Chiefs just from the dominance of their OL and DL lines.

 

[fearsomefour]

I would put Dedich in place of Avila at this time at LG. It seemed like when McVay penciled him at Center at the beginning of the preseason, it stymied Avila’s progress at his natural Guard position. So right now with Jonah Jackson always one injury away from not being full health, the O-Line chemistry and cohesiveness is not in sync.

But the Eagles OL and DL lines are big, heavy, quick and powerful. The Eagles I think are going to be in the Superbowl representing the NFC against the Chiefs just from the dominance of their OL and DL lines.

I was really impressed with Dedich. But, that was relative to his role. He was an undrafted guy buried on the depth chart. He played pretty well over all and would be top of the depth chart for me at LG at this point, but, I would not replace Avila.
Avila is not playing worse than Dedich for the most part (in my opinion) but we have seen how good Avila can be.
His main issue seems to be some mobility and getting beaten with quickness. He may just still be coming back from an injury.
I like Dedich as inexpensive depth going forward however.

 

[fearsomefour]

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.

You can see the potential of McClendon.
There are times he looks really good. But he has technical flaws and guys with technique issues, unless they are total freak athletes, get drafted where McClendon got drafted.
To quote my nephew, who does some fighting as a kick boxing; "Training is not fighting." A guy can work on it and work on it in practice and come game time, against different players with different skills of their own, its easy to revert back to the bad technique. Changing techniques takes a lot of time if it in ingrained.
I still like McClendon as a depth piece going forward at RT, not LT but RT. As for now, if he is playing this year on pure passing downs he will need help. If he can keep the rusher in front of him and get his hands on them he usually does well. I remember him stone walling Young vs the Whiners multiple times last year.
Its frustrating but takes time.

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

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.

1. There's no way you didn't think this when Baltimore whooped our ass during Lamar Jackson's first MVP season.

4. Let's add Jared Verse. A future star but he had a bad game too. There were too many times where he abandoned his job of containment trying to prove that he can bully their LT, and most of the time he was on his ass except for that one play.

 

[Loyal]

I was really impressed with Dedich. But, that was relative to his role. He was an undrafted guy buried on the depth chart. He played pretty well over all and would be top of the depth chart for me at LG at this point, but, I would not replace Avila.
Avila is not playing worse than Dedich for the most part (in my opinion) but we have seen how good Avila can be.
His main issue seems to be some mobility and getting beaten with quickness. He may just still be coming back from an injury.
I like Dedich as inexpensive depth going forward however.

I still think Avila is our starting LG now and into the future. Inserting Dedich will make yet another change in an OL that has seen too much change this year (mostly due to injury). We need continuity so guys gain trust with one another.

I also think Avila is still not quite right, health wise, and is trying to work through it. I think it was a couple of weeks ago when there were like three returning players thrust into the starting role and they didn't look good. Adding a bruising defense like Philly has didn't help them gain confidence. They just need time, which I acknowledge is something we may not have.
It is what it is.

 

[Wisconsinram]

I am praying Avila isn't healthy, going all the way back to camp. He was so good for us last year and if he can't be counted on as a building block, we are f'd as we have so many other glaring needs.

 

[fearsomefour]

I still think Avila is our starting LG now and into the future. Inserting Dedich will make yet another change in an OL that has seen too much change this year (mostly due to injury). We need continuity so guys gain trust with one another.

I also think Avila is still not quite right, health wise, and is trying to work through it. I think it was a couple of weeks ago when there were like three returning players thrust into the starting role and they didn't look good. Adding a bruising defense like Philly has didn't help them gain confidence. They just need time, which I acknowledge is something we may not have.
It is what it is.

Avilas situation may be nothing more than getting into game shape and strength.
I have faith he will get better as this year goes on and be ready to go next year.

 

[Classic Rams]

I have a new hatred for eagle fans now. Not just because of how we lost, that doesn't really sway my ratings. It's how they behaved while trying to take over our house, just as obnoxious as they'd be in their house. You just don't act that way on the road. That's how I started really hating whiner fans, they acted like entitled assholes in our house.

 

[JBRam77]

You can see the potential of McClendon.
There are times he looks really good. But he has technical flaws and guys with technique issues, unless they are total freak athletes, get drafted where McClendon got drafted.
To quote my nephew, who does some fighting as a kick boxing; "Training is not fighting." A guy can work on it and work on it in practice and come game time, against different players with different skills of their own, its easy to revert back to the bad technique. Changing techniques takes a lot of time if it in ingrained.
I still like McClendon as a depth piece going forward at RT, not LT but RT. As for now, if he is playing this year on pure passing downs he will need help. If he can keep the rusher in front of him and get his hands on them he usually does well. I remember him stone walling Young vs the Whiners multiple times last year.
Its frustrating but takes time.

you like McClendon? really? If we had a mobile QB thats a different story but with Matthew Stafford back there we need wayy better even as a backup tackle. He has been the weak link every time he’s suited up and it screws up the whole line. We need a tight end to chip his guy otherwise forget about anything longer than a 2 step drop. McVay needs to go “12” or “13” with this guy-so freaking stubborn man