Do’s And Dont’s For Tomorrow’s Game Against The Cleveland Browns
21 November 2020 Eagles News
The Eagles face off against the 6-3 Cleveland Browns tomorrow and they yet again get another chance to turn this season around. With a win, the Eagles would give themselves a decent cushion in the NFC East standings. This game tomorrow may make or break the Eagles season so here are the do’s and dont’s for tomorrow’s game.
Do’s
- Win the time of possession battle. That means RUN THE FOOTBALL, and conduct long drives. The Eagles must run the ball no less than 27-30 times. In the past 3 games Cleveland has let up an average of 127 rushing yards per game. There’s no excuse for Doug this week. These are going to be major factors in tomorrow’s game. Cleveland wants to keep it a low scoring game. They will want to eat the clock with their two headed monster of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and pound the rock. The Eagles simply can’t let that happen.
- Get Carson out of the pocket. For the love of God, Doug please coach to Carson’s strengths this weekend. Now that Myles Garrett is out due to Covid-19 restrictions, there’s no one on the Browns defensive line that should hold you back from getting Wentz out of the pocket. Garrett is responsible for 44% of the Browns sacks on season (9.5). The second highest total is 3.5 by Sheldon Richardson. So Doug please man, let Wentz use his legs.
- Take deep shots. Yes I said it. Take deep shots down field whenever it presents itself. The Browns have given up 255.5 air yards a game, which is good for 21st in the NFL. The Browns do a good job of mixing up man and zone sets, but they often like to send defensive back blitzes. If and when they do, that is when it’s your chance to strike. Don’t get me wrong, Denzel Ward is one of the better young cornerbacks in the league, and Terrance Mitchell isn’t a complete dud, but their safeties are horrendous in coverage. A lot of the deep shots they get burnt on are because their safeties don’t get to their spots quick enough or don’t get there at all. This is a game you must take advantage of the play action/roll out deep shots. Whether that be deep crossing patterns, WR/TE/RB wheel routes, motion seam routes, or even hesitation routes, just please enough with the go and come back routes. It’s clearly not working there Douglas
- Send the blitz. Yes, we all know Jim Schwartz is against sending the blitz often, but against the Browns, it’s a must. If you go back to October 18th against the Steelers, the Browns got Blitz all night and had no answers for it. The Steelers routed the Browns 38-7 that day, and totaled 4 sacks and 2 interceptions. They also totaled 14 pressures which held Baker Mayfield to 10/18 for 119 yards. I really hope Schwartz focused in on this game for our defenses sake.
Dont’s
- Don’t make Carson throw over 33 passes. Why 33 you say? It’s such an odd number. Well in the past 25 games, when Wentz threw under 33 passes hes 5-1, but when he’s throw over 33 passes he’s 7-11-1. You see what I’m putting down? Run the football and open up the play action/ rollout game. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the more passes you throw the more likely you are to throw an interception.
- Don’t play soft coverage. I’m an Eagles fan and I’m not naive enough to think Jim is gonna call press coverage packages, but it’s what they should do. You don’t want Baker getting the ball out quick and catching a rhythm. He may not be a consistent quarterback, but when he gets hot he can make any throw in the book. The defensive backs should be in press coverage, and give our pass rush more time to get to the quarterback.
- Don’t and I mean don’t take the ball out of Miles Sanders hands. This week we all heard Doug’s moronic comment saying they’re going to run more of a running back by committee moving foward. What an idiotic move on Doug’s part, but yet it doesn’t surprise me. To be honest nothing this guy does surprises me anymore. Everything he does is so predictable. Back to the subject at hand. Want to know a not so fun fact? In 22 NFL games, Miles Sanders has yet to carry the ball more than 20 times in a game. Isn’t that sickening. Sanders is averaging 5.8 yards a carry this season, which is good for 5th in the league. There’s no reason why Sanders shouldn’t have 20 or more carries every week. He’s far and beyond better than any running back we have on this roster. It’s about time Doug realizes that and starts leaning on Sanders more to help Wentz out.
I’m no NFL coach, but I know enough about the game to know that if the team follows these do’s and dont’s they can and should be successful tomorrow afternoon and every week after. Lets hope Doug Pederson and Jim Schwartz read this tonight and come to their senses.
#FlyEaglesFly
Featured Image: Philadelphia Inquirer
Twitter: @ajtorres1230
AJ Torres Cleveland Browns, Denzel Ward, Doug Pederson, Miles Sanders