Jaws was just on WIP and spoke about the game. He said he just broke down the film yesterday...
1. Out of a total of 61 plays run by the Eagles offense, the Falcons defense blitzed 5 or more defenders a startling 38 times. That is 62% of the time. Jaws said that he'd never really remembered seeing that many blitzes in a game. If you remember that loss to the 49ers in December of 2003, Jim Mora was the DC of the 49ers. They blitzed and they won. They backed off the blitz in the NFCCG and lost. So clearly (other teams have had success blitzing too) the magic potion to stopping Donovan is to blitz him.
2. He said that Donovan did NOT have as many clear running lanes as we thought he did. He said the way their blitzes were set up they prevented him from taking off most of the time.
3. Obviously said that Reid should have run it more to counter the blitz. It might have not worked successfully but it would at least hold the 'backers while playing play-action.
4. Said that TO did indeed go all out and that Donovan could've had 450 yards passing had he been on his "A" game. Many of his throws were affected by the pressure and TO was open way more than we saw. He said that the notion of Hall shutting down TO was ridiculous (McNabb said it yesterday too). He said that on one play that TV did not show, TO picked up Hall on a block and pancaked him on the sideline while blocking on a running play. So all of those conspiracy theorists saying TO was not going all out...cram it.
5. Said that the Falcons were successful with the blitz because many times they lined up WLB Keith Brooking over Hank Fraley so the Birds had to block man-on-man and Hank could not help Artis or Andrews. That allowed the Falcons to stunt and do other things and run guys free to the QB.
interesting stuff...
after the game I was arguing the notion that he should've run for exactly what Jaws was saying.
What I didn't like that he said was that McNabb wasn't affected by the hit and then that he WAS. He flip-flopped about it.
Quote from: PhillyPhreak54 on September 15, 2005, 08:51:15 AMHe said that on one play that TV did not show, TO picked up Hall on a block and pancaked him on the sideline while blocking on a running play
They did show that block. TO put him on the ground, onto his back, and stayed on him as Hall went down.
Yeah, I heard that too. But the only person (people) who know that fo' sho' are McNabb and Big Red. And neither of them will ever admit it either way.
QuoteSo clearly (other teams have had success blitzing too) the magic potion to stopping Donovan is to blitz him.
I don't think that's a highly protected secret. The Bucs and Pats both blitzed the crap out of McNabb to open the 2003 season. Reid threw, threw and threw and McNabb got sacked, sacked and sacked. Then the Eagles go to Buffalo and what does Reid do? He runs the ball a little more. And what was the outcome? First win of the season.
I don't know why teams don't blitz more against the Eagles but when they do, Reid needs to start dialing up #36 a little more often.
Quote from: Sgt PSN on September 15, 2005, 08:56:50 AM
QuoteSo clearly (other teams have had success blitzing too) the magic potion to stopping Donovan is to blitz him.
I don't think that's a highly protected secret. The Bucs and Pats both blitzed the crap out of McNabb to open the 2003 season. Reid threw, threw and threw and McNabb got sacked, sacked and sacked. Then the Eagles go to Buffalo and what does Reid do? He runs the ball a little more. And what was the outcome? First win of the season.
I don't know why teams don't blitz more against the Eagles but when they do, Reid needs to start dialing up #36 a little more often.
And I think forget the blitzing and talk about the zesty playcalling, like you said. Its got far less to do with the other team's defense and a hell of a lot more to do with our own coaching staff who forgets how to call run plays.
Ed Donatell, DC of the Falcons, was the DC of the Packers during the 4th-and-26 game. What many forget is in that game, GB blitzed nearly every play and McNabb was 8 sacked times. In fact, he was generally ineffective until he started running at the end of the game. That's what was missing.
Yep, and Donatell failed to blitz on 4th and 26, and gave Donovan time to find Freddie.
Teams that blitz Donovan definitely have more success in general. The 49ers will bring extra guys about half the time on Sunday, so Donovan better take the suck out of his game.
Quote from: Larry on September 15, 2005, 09:01:37 AM
Ed Donatell, DC of the Falcons, was the DC of the Packers during the 4th-and-26 game. What many forget is in that game, GB blitzed nearly every play and McNabb was 8 sacked times. In fact, he was generally ineffective until he started running at the end of the game. That's what was missing.
Larry...did your crack dealer move out of the neighborhood? You've made a few good points the last couple of days. :D
Good point about Donatell and that GB game. That game was lost by that dopey sumbitch Mike Sherman and yet Donatell got fired. Then they went through Bob Slowik and now they have Jim Bates, who is not too bad. But their personnel fargin suck.
Anyways...McNabb's best play in that game was the one when he eluded Gbaja-Biamila and threw the TD to Pinky after Todd did a great tight-rope walk of the sideline in the EZ.
a called roll out wouldnt hurt every once in a while
anyway the eagles didnt lose cause of the blitz the eagles lost cause it was a tough friggin game to win
i said from the get that at atlanta in the monday nite opener was not only unfair but an extremely tought position to be in...at atl and at kc were two losses this year...jaws and anyone else can breakdown the game film as much as they want but the fact is they lost a road game against a very good team...its going to happen
QuoteSaid that the Falcons were successful with the blitz because many times they lined up WLB Keith Brooking over Hank Fraley so the Birds had to block man-on-man and Hank could not help Artis or Andrews.
I guess we can expect to see this a lot until Reid decides to counteract it.
Quote from: MURP on September 15, 2005, 09:28:08 AM
QuoteSaid that the Falcons were successful with the blitz because many times they lined up WLB Keith Brooking over Hank Fraley so the Birds had to block man-on-man and Hank could not help Artis or Andrews.
I guess we can expect to see this a lot until Reid decides to counteract it.
Perhaps a fullback every now and then... oh who am I kidding.
An easy way to counteract the blitz is with screens. Westbrook was having good success with them, but I believe after McNabb threw that Aaron Brookish backward pass, Reid scratched all those plays off the chart.
Im suprised Jaws didnt think Mcnabb was a different player after that hit. It was like watching the Carolina Championship game all over again
Quote from: Larry on September 15, 2005, 09:31:50 AM
An easy way to counteract the blitz is with screens. Westbrook was having good success with them, but I believe after McNabb threw that Aaron Brookish backward pass, Reid scratched all those plays off the chart.
They were hit and miss on the screens. On one, the LB read it perfectly. On another, Donovan threw the ball backwards. Two others worked alright. That's what, 50%. They need to mix it up more than just a few screen plays.
I agree that a called roll-out wouldn't hurt. It's worth a try at least once a game, no?
How about a freaking running play every once and a while. Jesus.
I agree that a called roll-out wouldn't hurt. It's worth a try at least once a game, no?
he did it the very first play of the second half...it worked...and that was the end of it for some reason
Yeah, when you've got a QB with McNabb's athletic ability you've just got to call a couple of bootlegs during the game. Run some plays that gets McNabb out of the pocket and on the move.
Quote from: Diomedes on September 15, 2005, 09:36:33 AM
They were hit and miss on the screens. On one, the LB read it perfectly. On another, Donovan threw the ball backwards. Two others worked alright. That's what, 50%. They need to mix it up more than just a few screen plays.
On the one play, the LB got lucky because he split Andrews and Runyan. That should've been a huge gain for Westbrook. The backward pass should've never been thrown to begin with.
And Westbrook doesn't have to be the sole target for these screens. Throw a bubble screen to Lewis or Owens, a little shovel pass to LJ, etc...
Who're we kidding? We lost because there wasn't enough Reno.
Quote from: ice grillin you on September 15, 2005, 09:25:07 AM
anyway the eagles didnt lose cause of the blitz the eagles lost cause it was a tough friggin game to win
Yeah w/o Trott, and Akers misses 2/3, D-nice 3 turnovers, but no we lost because it was tough huh... ::)
i said from the get that at atlanta in the monday nite opener was not only unfair but an extremely tought position to be in...at atl and at kc were two losses this year...
Unfair? What planet are you from? It's football, remember when the Linc opened and we hosted TB? I guess that was unfair to them...The Eagles aren't scared to be on the road or to play any team. Oh and which defense in KC will stop us? By the time we play them there team will all be in jail.
The Eagles aren't scared to be on the road or to play any team. Oh and which defense in KC will stop us?
sorry...the eagles will go 15-1...what am i thinking
Quote from: Larry on September 15, 2005, 09:42:10 AMOn the one play, the LB got lucky because he split Andrews and Runyan. That should've been a huge gain for Westbrook. The backward pass should've never been thrown to begin with.
I disagree. It wasn't luck, it was a poorly executed play on the Eagles' part, and a good play on the Falcons' part. The Eagles were slow setting it up, and the blockers were not ready to block. The LB shot between Runyan and Andrews before they knew what was happening. Luck had nothing to do with it.
A couple of thoughts:
McNabb needs to work on hard counts against aggressive teams. Try to draw them offsides and temper them a bit.
On play that worked well was the Westbrook run up the middle where he was aligned right and ran cross grain through the left side of the line.
Quote from: sallad selgae on September 15, 2005, 10:22:30 AMOn play that worked well was the Westbrook run up the middle where he was aligned right and ran cross grain through the left side of the line.
That was sweet. But I don't think you'll see that call again for a while. It's a bit flukey.
Quote from: sallad selgae on September 15, 2005, 10:22:30 AM
A couple of thoughts:
McNabb needs to work on hard counts against aggressive teams. Try to draw them offsides and temper them a bit.
On play that worked well was the Westbrook run up the middle where he was aligned right and ran cross grain through the left side of the line.
I've seen the hardcount once during the Reid era. I think Reid's afraid of the offensive motion penalty.
And the trap you're talking about is a play that Mariucci used to run all the time in SF (that play's probably the brainchild of Mornhinweg). We ran it for the first time vs. Minny in last year's playoff game (for a big gain). We ran it twice Monday: once for a big gain, once it got stuffed.
I was injured in the first quarter too, pulled a hammy jumping out of my chair (spilled the chips too), but I kept watching hard. I never lost focus. Trotter farged the whole game up by being an idiot. McNabb played hurt and the playcalling sucked. Even with all that, if Akers makes those two FG's we win! It isn't like the TB and New England games two years ago.
Bottom line: Eagles ended up bringing anything but their "A" game. Falcons brought everything, especially the house. Falcons won the game, but not by much. Falcons will need a lot more luck to even make the playoffs, considering the way their division might shake out. Eagles shouldn't give another thought to the Falcons until such a time when they meet again, because Eagles have their own issues to take care of to get back to the big game.
Go Eagles. Falcons can sniff my hairy and massive scrotes.
I can very easily see the Falcons missing the playoffs. Wah wah wah.
I don't understand why Reid has a hard on for passing the ball. He'll pass the ball - almost Martz like - until he loses and then he'll go back to the run. Then he'll slowly take out the runs, replace them with passes, and we're back where we started again by playoff time. They're bringing pressure? Let's go 5 WR and pass! I would love to see Reid go Belichick and have 8 guys in blocking and send TO and G-Lew out there to run routes.
Add to the NFC South, they gotta play the AFC East too.
Whenever teams blitz the Eagles a ton, the Eagles don't handle it well. The Eagles need to figure out a way to beat this strategy. I think running the ball could help, but we need a better FB to lead block.
Shotgun we need to use it more, plus it sounds cool.
Quote from: Avenger on September 15, 2005, 04:05:03 PM
Whenever teams blitz the Eagles a ton, the Eagles don't handle it well. The Eagles need to figure out a way to beat this strategy. I think running the ball could help, but we need a better FB to lead block.
Yep.
draws and screens would worked nicely if attempted. as much as commentators suck off the eagles for being one of the best screen teams I don't remember them attempting many.
Shotgun hos, shotgun.
im not saying to not employ it...because it serves a purpose...but the shotgun is a highly overrated solution to avoiding the blitz...some people even believe it opens up the qb to the blitz moreso
Man, I would looove to see the shotgun more, a lot more. What the hell, most teams know we aren't gonna' run much anywayz. I know it's been said a lot also that Reid should call the bootleg more, but I think he wants Donovan in the pocket, for whatever reason, but when a team blitzes you 38 friggen' times, it's time to roll out. I'd like to see the WR screen to TO like McNabb used to throw to Pinky. I remember Murph said it only would work if we had Randy Moss. Well, we don't have Moss, but we have someone just as good if not better.
I think Jaws is one of the best anylist in the NFL, so yeah '54', I'll cram it about TO loafing. I respect Jaws's opinion, he knows more about the game than anyone here, and although I've looked at replays a few times, I guarantee you nobody has gone over the films like he has.
I'll just be glad when Sunday gets here so we can stop talking about the friggen' Falcons. And I want to see the 'Woodchopa' back in action. Somebody is gonna' pay dearly for last Monday.
Quote from: bleufunk on September 15, 2005, 04:20:11 PM
draws and screens would worked nicely if attempted. as much as commentators suck off the eagles for being one of the best screen teams I don't remember them attempting many.
I think since the talking heads have been droning on about how many screens the Eagles run Andy's been cutting back on them. I remember when Westbrook first started to be utilized it was screen after screen after screen. Then more recently he's been shifting and flexing to a wr spot and catching passes in the field and less on screens.
I hope Moats gets to play soon. I want to see him work with the first team.
Quote from: ice grillin you on September 15, 2005, 04:26:22 PM
im not saying to not employ it...because it serves a purpose...but the shotgun is a highly overrated solution to avoiding the blitz...some people even believe it opens up the qb to the blitz moreso
Yeah, the downside to the shotgun is that the QB needs to take his eye off the field even if only for a split second so that he can handle the snap.
The best counter to a blitz isn't really the shotgun, it's screens and traps imo.
Yeah, the downside to the shotgun is that the QB needs to take his eye off the field even if only for a split second so that he can handle the snap
not just that but it opens up the edges allowing speed rushers to do what they most like to do and that is to get outside and not have to deal with guards and other traffic inside
Quote from: ice grillin you on September 15, 2005, 04:35:44 PM
Yeah, the downside to the shotgun is that the QB needs to take his eye off the field even if only for a split second so that he can handle the snap
not just that but it opens up the edges allowing speed rushers to do what they most like to do and that is to get outside and not have to deal with guards and other traffic inside
All true, but it also gives the qb more time to look over the field and gets him almost twice as far back from the line of scrimmage making it harder for d-lineman to get to him before he gets the ball off. I'm not saying it's the best way to beat the blitz, but it's just as good as a screen or bootleg.
I can solve this riddle... is it easier to pass out of the 'gun on Madden 2006? Because if so, that's the way to go.
Eagles dont even have the shotgun in 06.
In that case, the shotgun is crap. McNabb needs his hands up HoneyBuns' taint to be effective.
I think the falcons were blowing up the bootleg up everytime it was tried except once maybe. Outside blitzers were on direct line to the Qb, pa/bootleg had no effect.
Well of course play action had no effect. We didn't hurt them with the run. Until you do, PA is shteine. And the Eagles throw all the time anyway, so they are particularly unlikely to get much from play action.