Brian Baldinger on the Eagles: "It's Hard to Know What They're Doing, or Why They're Doing It"
It’s a tradition unlike any other, Brian Baldinger going through Eagles footage and wondering what the hell this team is doing.
Let’s not our heads in agreement with Baldy as he explores the offensive shit show we witnessed on Sunday afternoon.
Clip #1:
.@eagles are frustrating to watch. Great read by the QB in first play; but why wouldn’t you throw the shallow cross into an open void on the 2nd play? #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/gLlGYxQ5TO
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 23, 2020
“Just make the throw”
We find ourselves saying the same thing during these games. On that first play, Wentz had Richard Rodgers on the seam with his first look. He didn’t even need to hesitate and find him on the second effort. Cleveland left him open throughout the entire sequence.
Clip #2:
.@Eagles please; someone help me out with this 3-7 disaster of a play . Who tries to run a read option off an inside trap into a safety blitz. That has a very small chance of ever being successful. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/s893u354f4
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 23, 2020
“It’s hard to know what they’re doing, or why they’re doing it”
This was one of the Doug’s worst play calls of the day, regardless of what Cleveland was doing defensively. It was 3rd and 7 from close to midfield and he ran a zone read with his slow quarterback. This specific play had some success earlier in the season but they haven’t ripped off a good one lately.
Baldy gives us the all-22 angle here, which shows that Carson probably should have audibled out of this.
Clip #3:
.@eagles offense is 2-21 on 3rd downs in last 2 weeks. Nothing wrong with this play call. Make the throw . It’s 3-3. The O-Line is basically short setting @oliviervernon54 anticipating a quick throw. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/mEWlQKBbJ1
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 23, 2020
“You can’t sit there and think this protection is going to hold up”
Two for 21 on third down is a whopping 9% conversion rate. That’s insanity, especially when you consider that the Eagles were so good at this during the Super Bowl season. They were 44.6% on third down and ranked second in the league. It really defined how good of a team they were, especially with situational football, moving the sticks and whatnot.
Clip #4:
.@eagles @cj_wentz @Browns @denzelward @STakitaki not why the QB to take the throw to @jalenreagor but #Ward went looking for work and found it. Heads up play. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/o1Mda5I9xt
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 23, 2020
“I’m not sure why Carson doesn’t throw it here”
So Torrey Smith came out on Twitter and said he thought this was more of a wheel route they were trying to set up. Doug Pederson said he thought Wentz had an opportunity to get rid of it.
But the Rodgers snooze and whiff here is pretty bad. Wentz should have thrown this earlier, but he does get hit when he floats this popsicle up there for a pick six. Not only did the QB look terrible on this one, but Rodgers, who had a great game otherwise, didn’t cover himself in glory.