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The Eagles are a well-coached team, and it shows on third/fourth downs


Phire

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The Eagles have been tremendous on 3rd/4th downs. Doug's calling the plays and Carson and crew are executing. I know we give Doug a lot of crap and he has earned it, but gotta give credit where it's due. One thing we can't say is that the team looks unprepared. Despite Doug's shortcomings I don't think anyone would say that this is a poorly coached team. Poor plays? Too often yes. Poor decisions? Too often yes. But poorly coached? I don't think so. Besides the bad plays that get called the team looks prepared to execute every week. They're not confused. The audibles and free reign that Carson has at the line of scrimmage is a huge indicator of a well-coached team. Everyone's on the same page, and it's working.

I'm sure someone has the right stats somewhere but I think Carson and the Eagles were 11/12 on third downs today, or something insane like that, against a decent defense.

This is from BEFORE today:

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Wentz leads all NFL quarterbacks in third/fourth-down conversion percentage at 54.0 percent. The next highest percentage is Aaron Rodgers at 49.1 percent, followed by Tom Brady at at 47.9. 

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Wentz has a 107.2 passer rating on third down and is averaging 8.73 yards per attempt, which is third in the NFL. That success has translated over to the Eagles offense, which has converted 50.9 percent of their third downs (second in the NFL) and 75 percent on fourth down (tied for fifth). 

Again, that's BEFORE today, which will bolster those numbers even more. And this is with Carson digesting plays beforehand and calling audibles. This is a well-coached team that's executing the game-plan. It's just sometimes the game-plan is flawed but hey, things could be much worse.

EDIT: And I'll add that what Lurie wanted was the right kind of culture, not the Chip Kelly culture, and it seems to be working. I know it's easy when things are going your way, but this is a team that hasn't been pointing fingers at each other when things go wrong. The DL has every reason to hate the defensive backs on most weeks, but they're all in it together. The Eagles have had things NOT go their way plenty this season already, but the leaders on the team make sure everyone's looking to the next play. We have our left tackle talking to a rookie kicker after a miss. We have our QB hyping up the defense. This is refreshing to see after all the tension in the later Reid years and much of the Chip Kelly era.

Gotta give credit where it's due!

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Controversial belief:

Doug Peterson is actually a good Head Coach. He just sucks at play calling/decision making. He reminds me a lot of Andy Reid in that he will make some of the most stupid decisions on game day(Andy's were with the clock, Doug is just bad at managing everything), but the team always looks prepared and the game plans are normally solid.

 

Get a real play caller, and let Doug coach the boys up and I will be happy.

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I agree with the Andy comparison. 

 

He was always elite at getting his team ready and with gameplanning, etc. Only he would sometimes let teams back into games with poor clock management or decision making at there end of games sometimes. 

 

 

IIRC, our first 15 or so play calls on offense every game are scripted. And we've scored 3 TDs and 1 FG on our opening drives in 5 games. Pretty impressive.

 

And he and Fipp and Reich and whoever else deserve some credit for Carson's development this season compared to last. 

 

Carson's ability to read coverages and blitzes pre snap have been Andrew Luck-esque so far. Like today on that Torrey Smith  bomb of a TD. He clearly sees single coverage on Smith and audibles the play, and immediately hits him on a slant route that goes the distance. 

 

I honestly think Carson might be the best QB in the league one day. He's that good. I continue to be amazed by him. 

 

 

Patrick Peterson praised him after the game, and Brian Billick as well on twitter

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Playcalling =/= poorly coached. This ain’t really about the playcalling, and those shortcomings are well documented.

But even if we want to go there, the playcalling has improved. We’re actually running the football, and it’s making the whole offense perform more efficiently and effectively.

Fipp has the special teams prepared.

Schwartz had the defense prepared. Seriously we’re getting high quality play from guys like Patrick Robinson.

Duce has the RBs ready. Offense doesn’t skip a beat when we put Clement or Barner in the offense.

The play selection is a weakness but coaching from a preparation standpoint... Doug & Co. have done a good job.

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26 minutes ago, Phire said:

Playcalling =/= poorly coached. This ain’t really about the playcalling, and those shortcomings are well documented.

But even if we want to go there, the playcalling has improved. We’re actually running the football, and it’s making the whole offense perform more efficiently and effectively.

Fipp has the special teams prepared.

Schwartz had the defense prepared. Seriously we’re getting high quality play from guys like Patrick Robinson.

Duce has the RBs ready. Offense doesn’t skip a beat when we put Clement or Barner in the offense.

The play selection is a weakness but coaching from a preparation standpoint... Doug & Co. have done a good job.

I crushed Doug. But I've been more impressed lately. It seems that he's learning when I thought he'd be incapable considering he spent 20 years in the NFL and still needed polishing. If he continues to let Carson be Carson and stick to the running game and basically let Schwartz handle the D, I won't complain unless it's something ridiculously blatant. Which I don't think he's exactly free and clear from. He still shows bonehead tendencies. But he's bought some time in my eyes. But I'll continue to critique him on a week to week basis until he's built up enough good credit. 

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