“One Of The Least Physical Teams You’ll Ever See”

With the Eagles falling to Tampa Bay last Thursday, Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan delivered sourced tape breakdown from the loss, examined the Zach Ertz trade and looked ahead on the latest Inside The Birds podcast.

(ITB photo: Nick Sirianni’s team hasn’t developed a tough, physical mentality)

Trades

Geoff Mosher: “Howie [Roseman-] was asked during his video conference if the Ertz trade was a signal that more trades are coming and that [will they] have a sellers at the deadline approach. “We will not be sellers” is what he said. I think people think now that they’re not gonna make trades because he said, ‘We’re not going to be sellers,’ but you have to understand Howie Roseman will always couch things a certain way. Just like he just traded Zach Ertz and told you, it’s not because he’s a seller, it’s because he wants Dallas Goddard to be the No. 1 guy now. When I listen to him say that I still think the Eagles could potentially trade some players between now and the deadline.”

Physicality

Mosher: “Even when they’re moving the chains, when they’re having some throws of success, they are one of the least physical teams you will ever see. They don’t ever pound the ball, they don’t wear down opponents, and even if your RPOs are working, you’re not really wearing down a defensive line because your offensive line does that one second worth of blocking and then they got to go into a different mode because then the ball may have been thrown. You are not mauling the guy in front of you when you’re running an RPO. When you run the ball, you’re mauling the guy, and they’re mauling nobody even when they’re moving the chains. They are not physically asserting themselves and you get labeled as a soft team, a team that can be pushed around, a team that you can outflank you because [they are] just meaner, tougher and nastier.”

Adam Caplan: “Yeah no question. Absolutely no physical play to this football team and zero on offense […] It’s a college offense, it’s been since Week 1, every team we talk to says the same thing.”

Jalen Hurts

Caplan: “[Jalen] Hurts is struggling. He’s not processing well enough, it’s an ongoing issue, get rid of football. Now the coaches have to help them get rid of it quicker, just like in the Atlanta game. The Panthers game is bad, this game was bad, he’s just not playing well.

Mosher: “The coaches are trying to help him, they’re just trying too hard to help him.”

Caplan: “They got to run the ball first half, just to get it out of his hands.”

Run Defense

Caplan: “They need size. This has got to stop, this is this ridiculous. Leonard Fournette is not even remotely close to the player he once was. He gets on the front of his toes, he tiptoes … he changed runs completely from college at LSU. He still played very well, he definitely played very well, no question. But it was absurd how much he pushed the pile, and the angles and you saw Davion Taylor play more. It was a nightmare trying to tackle him. If he was more explosive he might’ve had 200 yards and he’s not, he’s just big. He’s a big dude, and he’s physical and you can’t do that against this team and they got housed.

Mosher: “At the end of the day every team has a pretty decent running back. Guys like Chuba Hubbard and Leonard Fournette who are just OK are starting to look really good and you’ve got Josh Jacobs coming up next week, then you’ve got the tandem of D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams. You can look at these guys any week and say they are good, not great, but against the Eagles they are gonna move the chains.”

– Justin Morganstein (@jmotweets_) is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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