Eagles News: Philadelphia needs more from their run game

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Eagles run game must improve - PhillyVoice
Without making too much of a small sample size, the Philadelphia Eagles' run game did not look impressive in their Week 1 win over the Washington Redskins. The offensive line failed to open up many holes, and when they did, the Eagles' trio of running backs – LeGarrette Blount, Wendell Smallwood, and Darren Sproles – were able to make defenders miss at the second level of the defense. On the day, the Eagles' backs combined for 20 carries, which went for 52 yards (2.6 yards per carry), and a long rush of just 7 yards.

Eagles Film Review: Philadelphia’s defensive line anchors season opening win against Washington - BGN
Rejoice, all ye who have called for more blitzes! Schwartz heard your calls and happily obliged! Ok, so it that probably didn't actually factor into the decision, but good things happened when the Eagles blitz. Each week I’m going to chart different things such as defensive formations, blitz percentages, etc. Occasionally I’ll drop those nuggets in my articles to help provide context. This week, as I mentioned above, I had the Eagles down for 12 blitzes on 61 defensive plays. That rounds to Schwartz blitzing on 20% percent of the defensive snaps, and when the Eagles blitzed, they wrecked havoc. In 12 blitzes that I noticed, Cousins was 5-of-11 for 77 yards with an interception.

Jim Schwartz's Words Didn't Change Anything - BGNRadio.com
Vince Quinn takes you through today's press conference with Eagles DC Jim Schwartz, chats about the new kicker in town Jake Elliot from the Bengals practice squad and looks ahead a little to the Chiefs on Sunday.

Defensive Game Review – PHI 30, WAS 17 – Iggles Blitz
Tim Jernigan – Best game as an Eagle. Had a somewhat quiet summer, but came alive in his first real game. Had a sack and a TFL. The sack was a thing of beauty. Used a good swim move to blow by the LG and absolutely floor Cousins. That was a clean, but violent hit. Got penetration on multiple plays. Used multiple moves to win, showing strength and athleticism. Has violent hands. Stout vs the run. Helped to clog inside running lanes.

Jim Schwartz Prepares For Potent Chiefs - PE.com
Here’s the thing about Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz: He isn’t going to back down from a challenge. And he knows he has a big one on Sunday when the Eagles play at Arrowhead Stadium against a Kansas City Chiefs team that put up, hold on to your seats, 537 yards of total offense, averaged 8.3 yards per play, and went 3 for 3 in the red zone in a blowout win over New England last Thursday ...

Carson Wentz cooler under pressure to start Year 2 - ESPN
According to ESPN's Stats & Information, Wentz completed 44 percent of his passes at 4.2 yards per attempt with one touchdown to six interceptions while under duress in 2016. Those numbers jumped to a 60 percent completion rate at 11.7 yards per attempt with a TD and no picks against Washington. Wentz's improvisational skills were on display on that first touchdown, as he dodged traffic and shook off would-be tacklers during a nine-second scramble drill before finding his target downfield. He pulled them out again late to fuel a critical field-goal drive, rolling left to escape a six-man pressure before connecting with tight end Zach Ertz down the sideline for a big gain.

Where do Ronald Darby, Eagles go after injury? - The Athletic
With the Eagles now able to make changes to the gameday roster, who replaces Darby? Pederson hinted that it could be Rasul Douglas. “He improved from OTAs into training camp, he improved,” Pederson said on Monday. “So, got a lot of confidence in him, if that's the direction we go on defense.” Not suiting up in Week 1 probably wasn’t much of a confidence booster for the third-round pick, but with Darby going to miss some time, Douglas could be thrown into the fire sooner rather than later. “It's going to be one of those situations where it's going to take all hands on deck these next few weeks to really get the job done,” Pederson said.

Carson Wentz will need to take advantage of deep chances - Inquirer
They failed to make big plays early, midway,and late last season. The Eagles completed just six passes over 40 yards and were tied for the 26th in the NFL in 2016. There was a combination of factors, but mostly it had to do with having a first-year quarterback and a dearth of receivers who could get open and make catches deep. Wentz is a year older, though. And the Eagles added a receiver who can get beyond the secondary and another who can make plays on balls downfield even if he can’t get separation. Smith can still burn. And Alshon Jeffery can still jump. Smith broke free on two deep post patterns against man defense. Wentz’s second throw was five yards too deep. According to Pederson, the quarterback was compensating after coming up short on the first attempt.

Eagles Film Review: Getting the ball to Nelson Agholor in space - CSN Philly
We saw a different Nelson Agholor during the Eagles' 30-17 win over Washington on Sunday. He followed up his excellent offseason with a career game, setting career highs in catches and receiving yards (see story). Now, it's probably too early to definitively say it's going to last. After all, he had a big touchdown in Week 1 last year too. But he clearly looked more confident on Sunday. That could be a big boost for the Eagles because while Agholor isn't a starter outside anymore, he still has a huge role as their slot receiver.

The Debrief, Week 1: Low-scoring start sign of defensive trend? - NFL.com
Philadelphia Eagles: I went into the season believing that Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Tim Jernigan could rival any defensive line trio in the league. Their Week 1 totals: six tackles for loss, four sacks and two forced fumbles against the Redskins, including the one returned by Cox for a game-sealing score. (The group will have to be strong enough to hold the team together until No. 1 cornerback Ronald Darby returns from his dislocated ankle.) Like the other teams on this list, the Eagles have the requisite depth to keep their stars fresh. Each member of the trio above played fewer than 70 percent of their team's defensive snaps.

NFL odds 2017, Week 2: Betting lines, trends, and analysis for the week's top games - SB Nation
The Kansas City Chiefs are just 2-9 straight up in their last 11 games played in Week 2. Coming off a big road upset over New England, the Chiefs will try to turn their Week 2 luck around this Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City is a 4.5-point home favorite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Philadelphia also enters this game coming off a road win last week as a slight favorite over Washington. The Eagles are 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS in their last five games as a road dog.

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