“Not How You Build A Bully”

After a forgettable Monday Night Football performance in Week 3, the Eagles confronted another high-powered offense in the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4.

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles tried to keep up with the Chiefs, but Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdowns as the Eagles lost a 42-30 shootout at the Linc.

Former Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant and former Eagles safety Quintin Mikell lamented the lack of creativity and blitzes that left the Eagles trailing for almost the entire game.

“Why would you just sit in [Cover 2] the same defense every play?” Mikell asked on the latest “Q&A” on Inside The Birds.

“Why wouldn’t you at least give yourself a chance to confuse them a little bit? Show them something that they’re not expecting, or show them a pressure that we hadn’t ran yet.

“We’ve only ran like three or four pressures all year. So what if you get caught in the blitz, so what if you get caught in the zero pressure, at least you took a chance. This ‘playing it safe, let’s keep everything in front’ — that’s not how you win games long term, that’s not how you make it to the playoffs. That’s not how you build a bully.”

Avant reiterated why the heavy use of zone coverage without much variation won’t be successful.

He also expressed his frustration with play calling and personnel usage.

“I don’t know what’s good for the players because you only do one thing!” Avant bellowed.

“I’ve seen a couple different zone defenses, and only like three blitzes. Damn, I don’t know if they can jump high, low, cover man to man, take a piss, nothing! I don’t know nothing. I know they can play zone.”

Also discussed on the show: The Eagles’ need for a reliable, consistent receiving option on must-convert situations.

Avant and Mikell discussed why Eagles receivers need to grow up quickly.

“When you need a play, who’s that guy?” Mikell said, “We gotta find that guy. It can’t always be [Zach] Ertz or [Dallas] Goedert. It’s gotta come from our receiving core. They gotta grow up and they gotta grow up up fast.

“I think they’ll eventually get there. Sometimes it just takes that one play, something to make everything click and fall into place.”

– Tyler Strasser (@tylerstrasser7) is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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