Eagles have injury problems at LB and LT

The Eagles lost middle linebacker Jordan Hicks and left tackle Jason Peters for the season.

Their problems at LB got worse when their backup MLB Joe Walker suffered a stinger last week. Mychal Kendricks would probably play MLB if Walker is out, and he is excellent, but that leaves a huge void for them at OLB.

Their backup OLB, Najee Goode, is a career special teams player. At barely 6'0 with short arms and limited abilities in covering space, I imagine he would have a tough time against a receiver like Jimmy Graham.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai has taken over at LT, and he is the obvious weak link on their offensive line. Vaitai is very slow and doesn't handle speed rushers well at all. I hope the coaches use a little creativity, mixing in some stunts and blitzes, to attack Carson Wentz's blindside.

This would be the perfect game to switch Ifedi to RG and Pocic to RT.

Brandon Graham is the Eagles' LDE. He is the prototype of the speed rusher, with a quick initial burst, who will give Ifedi fits on the edge if he stays at tackle.

Meanwhile, Fletcher Cox is one of the best LDTs in the league. He's a beast who gives even strong guards fits. Pocic is just not strong enough to block a player like Cox one-on-one.

I think Cox is going to be living in the backfield if Pocic plays right guard. We will need to roll Russell Wilson out to the left side as much as possible. I would not even bother running to the right side of the line, unless it is a pitch wide outside.

This is the kind of thing we need to avoid . . .
[youtube]BvHX3Q4yDpo[/youtube]

Seems like a good game to test the Eagles' OLBs with screens, anything to get the ball out in space quickly.

The Eagles probably have the best DL collectively. That will cover up their losses at LB. I'm expecting a tough battle, I hope the Seahawks show up with their A+++++++ game Sunday evening.

hawkfan68":15v440c5 said:

The Eagles probably have the best DL collectively. That will cover up their losses at LB. I'm expecting a tough battle, I hope the Seahawks show up with their A+++++++ game Sunday evening.

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True, their DL is nasty. We got to hit them over the top with the screen game, get the ball outside, and run off Duane Brown as much as possible. I think it's a true toss-up game.

hawknation2017":1wvl7ftk said:

hawkfan68":1wvl7ftk said:

The Eagles probably have the best DL collectively. That will cover up their losses at LB. I'm expecting a tough battle, I hope the Seahawks show up with their A+++++++ game Sunday evening.

Click to expand...

True, their DL is nasty. We got to hit them over the top with the screen game, get the ball outside, and run off Duane Brown as much as possible. I think it's a true toss-up game.

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A toss up game?

Eagles are playing like the 2013 Seahawks this year. Dominating pass rush, solid run D, Excellent run game and explosive passing game with a mobile fearless young QB. We will be lucky to be within single digits at the end of this one, if you ask me. The Eagles are a far more solid team than the Seahawks right now and are playing in top form. The only thing we've got is HFA and that's hardly been helpful this year.

hawknation2017":1tuaq0ue said:

hawkfan68":1tuaq0ue said:

The Eagles probably have the best DL collectively. That will cover up their losses at LB. I'm expecting a tough battle, I hope the Seahawks show up with their A+++++++ game Sunday evening.

Click to expand...

True, their DL is nasty. We got to hit them over the top with the screen game, get the ball outside, and run off Duane Brown as much as possible. I think it's a true toss-up game.

Click to expand...

I liked what they did with JD last game. They got the ball to him to the outside a lot, and it seemed to work well.

Mad Dog":2ydz6zxi said:

hawknation2017":2ydz6zxi said:

hawkfan68":2ydz6zxi said:

The Eagles probably have the best DL collectively. That will cover up their losses at LB. I'm expecting a tough battle, I hope the Seahawks show up with their A+++++++ game Sunday evening.

Click to expand...

True, their DL is nasty. We got to hit them over the top with the screen game, get the ball outside, and run off Duane Brown as much as possible. I think it's a true toss-up game.

Click to expand...

A toss up game?

Eagles are playing like the 2013 Seahawks this year. Dominating pass rush, solid run D, Excellent run game and explosive passing game with a mobile fearless young QB. We will be lucky to be within single digits at the end of this one, if you ask me. The Eagles are a far more solid team than the Seahawks right now and are playing in top form. The only thing we've got is HFA and that's hardly been helpful this year.

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OK, don't take my word for it. Here is an unbiased NFL computer prediction, based solely on scoring outputs and game location:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/20 ... ons/games/

They have it 52-48 . . . basically a coin flip.

I want to see that nasty fake-bootleg screen pass again. That play made me like Bevell for a bit

hawknation2017":2illipcj said:

I think it's a true toss-up game.

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Maybe before half the team got injured. Not anymore.

Yep, toss up game for sure.

Eagles have beat the teams in front of them like they have to do, but looking at their schedule I'm not overly impressed. I think the Hawks show up big and protect the home field. Don't want to lose 3 home games in a row. Unheard of.

They've beaten only one team with a winning record.

SoulfishHawk":1mvxh6ke said:

They've beaten only one team with a winning record.

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So have we.

Boy, was THAT discouraging to find out.

SoulfishHawk":3ncvnt4c said:

They've beaten only one team with a winning record.

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How many teams under .500 have the Eagles lost to? I know the Seahawks have lost to at least one and at home to boot.

Oh brother. Fine, the Eagles are the greatest team in the history of the NFL and can't be knocked off. Better?
The fans act scared of so many teams, at least I know the team isn't intimidated.

Beating the 1-win 49ers really lifted spirits around here, but I think after we lose (rightfully so) to the best team in the NFC Sunday, everyone's going to be wondering why they expected anything different.

We know who this Seahawks team is this year. They're the same team that lost to Washington at home. If they're going to beat the Eagles, they have to field a different team with different coaching. Business as usual loses this game, simple as that.

It's kinda sad that this is our Super Bowl. And Philly is playing for nothing but pride. They're gonna be care-free and having fun out there, and we're gonna be trying to prove we're still relevant. We're the sad old men of the NFC right now.

SoulfishHawk":zts4f3c2 said:

Oh brother. Fine, the Eagles are the greatest team in the history of the NFL and can't be knocked off. Better?
The fans act scared of so many teams, at least I know the team isn't intimidated.

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This game is starting to remind me of the 2013 Saints. It was week 13-- DEC 3rd @ Centurylink. The media was drooling over the Saints offense and Bree's was on fire-- much like Wentz is now.

The result Seattle kicked the snot out of them 34-7.

I'm not saying we'll blow out the Eagles, I just think the game will be much closer than the "experts" think. Seattle is a tough out at home, losing to Washington and ATL at home was mainly due to self inflicted wounds with penalties and such. Hopefully they can put together a better showing this week. Seattle has never lost 3 homes games in a season during the PC/RW era.

Newsflash!!

Seahawks have injury problems at LT, RB1, RB2, RB3, DE2, SS1, CB1. All were starters, all are out.

If this is about an advantage do to injury then I suggest to think again.

Still gotta' play the games. I can see why people expect a loss. But I also can see why people think we can win. All a matter of opinion. Assuming a loss, meh. Where's the fun in that?

SoulfishHawk":2mbak82p said:

Still gotta' play the games. I can see why people expect a loss. But I also can see why people think we can win. All a matter of opinion. Assuming a loss, meh. Where's the fun in that?

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We still have a shot. I give us 30-40% chance of W. Just not ready to dance on someones grave over injury thinking we have an advantage there.