All-22 with Kapadia and Schwartz (Geoff)

[Melchior]

Pretty good stuff and free.

https://theathletic.com/129410/2017/...-got-on-track/

[udontknowme]

having to sign up for a free trial ain't free!

CLICKBAIT!!!

[Melchior]

Did you? I was able to just open it.

[dev_32]

Pretty good stuff and free.

https://theathletic.com/129410/2017/...-got-on-track/

One of you nerds who pays for this should just copy and paste the content into this forum

[Melchior]

OK, apparently I'm a jackass. I thought they declined my payment and it never went through but I guess it did.

Here:


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All-22: On Fletcher Cox's power and how the Eagles' offense got on track

Sheil Kapadia
9 hours ago
Every week, former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz joins us to break down the film.

***

With beads of sweat taking over his forehead, Fletcher Cox stood at his locker last Tuesday and said he wasn't sure if he'd be traveling with the team to Carolina to take on the Panthers.

Cox had been sidelined since Week 3 with a calf injury. Tuesday marked his return to the practice field. Still, given that the Eagles had nine days between games in Weeks 6 and 7, it seemed likely that the Pro Bowl defensive tackle would get some extra time off before he returned.

But Cox felt healthy enough to play last Thursday night and wasted no time in making his impact felt. It's reasonable to wonder whether the Eagles would have won the game without him.

In the second quarter, with the Eagles trailing 10-3, Cox got singled up against Trai Turner and came up with a huge play.

https://streamable.com/qfhfz

The combination of Cox's strength and the way the Panthers teach their offensive linemen to pass set led to pressure on Cam Newton and a Rasul Douglas interception.

“They teach their linemen to set back because they want everyone to pick up the twists,” Schwartz said. “That’s what they teach. You can see they’re all setting back at first. That’s what happened to Trai Turner here. Trai Turner’s a big, strong guard. He’s really good. But what happens is instead of going and getting Fletcher Cox, he backs up, and then Fletcher Cox just uses his momentum and takes him for a ride.”

Said Cox after the game, “It’s one of those things where I knew that they were backed up, and it’s just kind of the situation. Just bulled the guard into the quarterback’s lap and went after the throwing arm. I actually thought it was a strip until I turned around and saw the ball go out.”

Later in the game, it was the same story.

https://streamable.com/hijr4

“He’s backing so far up,” Schwartz said. “Cox is on his body. Look at him. That’s just the way they do things. The ball’s at the 49. Trai Turner’s first contact with him’s at the 45. You give a power rusher a 4-yard head start. Really, Cox is almost at the 50, and by the time they make contact, Trai Turner’s back leg is at the 44-yard line. You can’t defend Fletcher Cox like that.

“By the time Trai Turner makes contact with him, he only has to push him back like 2 yards. Turner actually stops him with a hop. It’s called a hop-hop right here. He stops him. The problem is that he started 5 yards off the ball. If he had done this at the line of scrimmage or a yard past the line of scrimmage, Fletcher Cox gets stoned.”

Newton did a great job on this play of somehow still completing a pass, but the pressure clearly affected him all game long. Newton completed 28 of 52 passes for 239 yards. He averaged 4.6 YPA, was picked off three times and had a passer rating of 48.5.

“[Having Cox back] changes a lot, especially in a game like [this] where you’re facing a quarterback that is kind of dynamic,” said defensive end Chris Long. “[Newton] doesn’t necessarily slow you down on the outside, but he makes you rush balanced. To have that push in the middle to kind of keep them honest and keep Cam honest, it makes a big difference. I mean if you look at some of his errant throws, some of his interceptions, that pressure in the middle is what creates that.”

VAITAI'S EARLY STRUGGLES

One of the reasons that last week's win was so impressive was because of what the Eagles had to overcome. Calls didn't go their way. They were playing on the road on a short week. And they were without right tackle Lane Johnson, who has been playing at a Pro Bowl level.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai filled in, and on the Eagles' first offensive drive, Julius Peppers got the best of him for a sack/fumble.

https://streamable.com/dsum3

The Eagles used run action and fooled most of the Panthers' defense — but not linebacker Thomas Davis. He stuck with Zach Ertz, causing Carson Wentz to hitch a couple times. That bought the time that Peppers needed.

“Vaitai goes to punch, and if you watch when he punches, his weight is over his right foot, which is not good,” Schwartz said. “It should be balanced. If you look at Jason Peters in the same situation, see how he’s balanced? Vaitai’s not. Then he punches and leans and lunges to punch, instead of punching from your back. So he’s trying to clobber Peppers, which makes sense, because on a play-action pass you want to be a little stouter. The problem is he’s doing both. He’s pass setting and trying to be stout. You have to choose if you want to go run block the guy or not run block the guy. You can’t be in the middle.

“If you look at the rest of the line, they’re all run blocking because it’s a run set. Vaitai doesn’t have to run block on this play. In fact, they probably tell him to pass protect because he’s going to have to block longer than anyone else.”

Vaitai seemed to settle down as the game went on. Most of the Eagles' issues in pass protection were the result of Carolina's blitz schemes, not necessarily losing one-on-one matchups on the offensive line.

“He took just a bad set line on the sack,” Doug Pederson said. “He learned from it, obviously, the hard way. But, hey, listen, Peppers is a great player. He settled in. He did some nice things after that.”

GETTING ON TRACK

Offensively, last Thursday night's game was a grind for the Eagles. But the key drive came late in the third quarter when Wentz completed four straight passes for 81 yards, including a 3rd-and-16 conversion to Mack Hollins.

He also hit on a deep ball to Alshon Jeffery, beating the Panthers' blitz.

https://streamable.com/oekup

There are a few things that stand out here. One is that the Eagles helped Vaitai with a chip from Ertz.

“They obviously went to help Vaitai a lot more after that first play, which was smart,” Schwartz said. “A lot of coaches don’t make adjustments like that. But on this play, they keep the tight end in just to give him a little bit of help.”

One of the strengths of Pederson's staff has been putting players in position to succeed. The coaches deserve credit for subtle adjustments like this one where they gave Vaitai help.

Kenjon Barner had a tough game in terms of blitz pickup, but here he got the job done against Thomas Davis.

And then there's a rarity. On the left side of the line, Jason Peters got beaten. But it didn't end up mattering.

“Quarterbacks and linemen have to work in tandem,” Schwartz said. “If Wentz drops back to where he’s not supposed to, he gets hit. But he doesn’t. He does a good job.”

What's the goal for an offensive tackle after he realizes he's been beaten?

“Push him by the pocket, which is what he does,” Schwartz said. “You turn and bail. And that’s what Peters does. He gets beat, boom, runs, and then it’s that last shove at the end when he goes to hit the quarterback. That’s when you typically get him because he shortened the corner just a tiny bit.”

The result was a 37-yard completion.

“Coach did a great job rolling the dice,” Jeffery said after the game. “We were telling him all night that they were playing a coverage daring us to throw it deep so we did.”

On the season, 14 percent of Wentz's attempts have traveled 20 yards or more downfield. That's the eighth-highest mark in the league. His accuracy has picked up considerably, as well. Wentz has been on-target on 41.4 percent of those downfield throws, per Pro Football Focus. That's tied for seventh-best. And Wentz's passer rating on downfield throws is 108.1 (sixth).

The win at Carolina was the Eagles' most impressive of the season. After six weeks, they are tied for the best record in the NFL at 5-1 and lead the NFC with a point differential of plus-43.

With three straight games at home and the Eagles generating plenty of buzz in a wide-open NFC, Pederson's next challenge will be to keep the team grounded.

“We're winning these games, but there is a lot to fix, a lot to correct as well,” Pederson said. “It's never perfect.”