"How Does That Happen?" - Brian Baldinger Dissects the Eagles' Outrageous Loss
Brian Baldinger always does a great job breaking down NFL film on a Monday. Gotta look for his #BaldysBreakdowns after a football weekend.
Baldy played for the Eagles and has always done a lot of media in this town, so he spends a lot of time on the Birds whenever he logs on to Twitter. There were more than a half-dozen clips posted this morning, and I pulled six of them.
Clip #1:
.@WashingtonNFL hit @Eagles @cj_wentz 1/14 X on this “Fire X” stunt. There really is no excuse not to pick this up except that with no preseason you never see it live at full speed #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/TK9nYYFF3T
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 14, 2020
Do you recall a good pickup by either Clement or Boston Scott on Sunday? The running backs really seemed to struggle with their blocking help, and one of those blown plays was the 4th and 4 in the third quarter that resulted in the disastrous Jon Bostic sack.
Clip #2:
.@Eagles passing game needs a lot of work; and when they think they have worked enough, they need more work. None of these throws had anything to do with the O-Line. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/TSLjRq9khA
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 14, 2020
“The passing game had no timing, whatsoever.”
Pretty much sums it up right there.
This is a much better look at the first Wentz pick, which we talked about in the Ten Takeaways column. Obviously that ball has to be thrown more towards the sideline, so the defensive back can’t make a play on it. Instead, Carson just sort of floats it up there where Fabian Moreau can attack it.
Clip #3:
.@Eagles when your QB is getting drilled into the turf from the first drive of the game don’t expect bulls-eye accuracy. He missed some throws that he should make but all QB’s do when they get hit hard early. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/DXvU3NADua
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 14, 2020
It’s all true. You take cumulatively more hits, you start getting out of whack and out of rhythm and next thing you know, you’re throwing Donovan McNabb worm burners into the turf. He’s gotta be accurate, but the blame gets shared between the QB, line, and play caller.
Clip #4:
.@eagles @WashingtonNFL surrender 8 sacks. Not many lineman getting beat 1 on 1. But with so many new young players the chemistry wasn’t there. But Washington has a ferocious pass rush. Might not want to fall in 💕💕 with a deep passing game. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/jaqQqHfb6l
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 14, 2020
That coverage sack was pretty bad. Some of these four-deep routes and other vertical trees are head-scratchers when you know that you just aren’t getting a lot of time to throw the ball. Doug Pederson’s is built from portions of Andy Reid’s offense, and so you’d think most West Coast-derived plays would have a 5-yard option, a dump off, a short out, or something like that. A lot of stuff was just too slow to develop and Wentz was getting crushed before guys even hit their breaks.
Clip #5:
.@WashingtonNFL @TheTerry_25 v @Eagles @bigplay24slay why play this press corner who loves to compete in pure M2M coverage in soft zone coverage. Make the QB & WR work to beat you. Just me! #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/MJKVuN7UO6
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 14, 2020
“Why do you play him ten yards off against the same player?”
It’s just a Jim Schwartz thing. And he didn’t have skilled #1 CB/press type guys in the past, so they cultivated this off-coverage and zonal type of look that was predicated on the defensive line getting to the QB and running the show.
It’s frustrating. Slay is the first lockdown corner they’ve had in a long time, so don’t play him 10-yards off the opponent’s top receiver.
Clip #6:
.@eagles on 3-3 they let the @WashingtonNFL right back in the game. Who is the QB if the defense? Better figure this out fast b/c you can’t give teams FREE TD’s #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/24FC6ZgNnl
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 14, 2020
“How does that happen?”
Need one of the 700 Eagles reporters to ask Jim Schwartz about that play on the conference call this week. There were a lot of miscommunications and blown assignments in week one, and it probably would not have been that bad if we had a proper preseason.