“It’s A Major, Major Adjustment”

The Eagles are seeking to reel the season back Sunday as they travel to Denver to take on the 5-4 Broncos.

On the latest Inside The Birds podcast, Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan discussed offensive and defensive keys to Sunday’s matchup and give their predictions.

The altitude in Denver makes life difficult for opponents

High Altitude

Geoff Mosher: “Teams that don’t play in Denver a lot, like the Eagles, who’ve only played the Broncos 13 times in general in the history of their franchise, it’s tough. I mean, it’s a major, major adjustment and I don’t think it’s just coincidence that the last three times the Eagles have played in Denver, they’ve gotten the doors blown off them. Some of those teams were good Eagles teams, they just lost. The Eagles haven’t won in Denver since 1989 and in the last three games they played there, the average margin of loss for them is 28 points.”

Run Attack

Mosher: “So Denver’s got the sixth-best rushing defense in the NFL, which makes me think that the Eagles are not going to be able to be as dominant [in the run]. I mean, maybe they will, we’ll see, but they’re obviously going to try to run the ball the way they have the last two weeks. I wonder if Nick Sirianni once again comes out and says, ‘Let’s see if we can open it up first, do a little Shotgun, just like he did against the Chargers, let’s see if we can move the ball.’ Especially knowing that the team on the other side is pretty good against the run and go from there. If it fails like it did last week, then maybe he again says, ‘All right, I got to try ground and pound and then we’ll see if that’s successful or not.’”

Adam Caplan: “This is a tough game to call because the Broncos are a very respectable run defense. But yes, they’re down at corner a little bit.”

Broncos RBs

Caplan: “What you’re gonna see at running back, Melvin Gordon is interesting. Coming out of Wisconsin was super explosive then he had micro-fracture surgery and slowly but surely he’s been more of a grinder and inside runner, gets in the second level. He’s had a couple big plays this season but he’s more of a short-area guy. Then Javonte Williams comes in, the rookie of the second round of North Carolina, who’ll replace Gordon next year. He’s super-explosive. They average 4.5 yards per carry and Vic Fangio wants the run game. Some people say [Vic Fangio] micromanages, coaches like a lot of these defensive coordinators are tough to coordinate or head coaches. Some people say he micromanages coaches like a lot of these defensive coordinator head coaches. Eagles run defense, as we know, is improved, they are giving up 4.2 yards per carry to opposing running backs, it’s way down. They’re doing much better.

Mosher: “This is a real test, though. To me, this is a real test. Javonte Willaims is leading the NFL in forced missed tackles.”

Denver pass rush

Caplan: “Even with all of Denver’s injuries on defense, they’re still talented. They actually blitz a little more than usual. Their blitz percentage is in the top 10, just over 32 percent. It’s not like they’re super blitz happy but they’re blitzing a little bit more than they normally would.”

Mosher: “I’m guessing that’s because [Bradley] Chubb has been out and because [Von] Miller gets traded.

Caplan: “Yeah. That’s exactly why. I bet you to start the season they weren’t blitzing as much but this is going to be a coach’s game here. You’ve got to help your guys out here.”

– Justin Morganstein (@jmotweets_) is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.</p>

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