[Game Preview] Week 4 - Philadelphia Eagles(0-2-1) at San Francisco 49ers (2-1)
Philadelphia Eagles (0-2-1) at San Francisco 49ers (2-1)
The Eagles are off to their worst start since 1999 when Eagles coach Doug Pederson was the starting QB for the Eagles in Andy Reid’s first season; where the Eagles started 0-3 and finished 5-11. The Eagles look to be on a similar trajectory this season with their 0-2-1 start following an embarrassing tie to the Bengals last week. The Eagles have the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL this season and the Eagles look like a bad football team. There really isn’t any other description of this team. They are bad on every level and it starts from the top. The team has played undisciplined and the offensive and defensive play-calling has been atrocious and has lacked identity. It seems like the game-planning this season has been phoned in with the coaches running the same vanilla offense and defense week in and week out and expecting the players to win it for them which they haven’t. Carson Wentz has regressed to the point he is unrecognizable and is making mistakes from his rookie season. His coaches don’t seem interested in helping him with fix those mistakes either as Doug Pederson and Press Taylor have failed to recognize Carson’s breakdowns in his mechanics. Their gameplans have done him no favors either utilizing a large number of 5 and 7 step drops despite having a multitude of injuries on the offensive line and at the wide receiver position. If the Eagles have any hope of salvaging their season they will need to pull out a win on Sunday night football against the 49ers and their strong defense. The 49ers are dealing with some injuries of their own with Bosa and Sherman on the IR on the defensive side and Jimmy G and Mosert most likely missing the game on offense. The San Fran defense is still tough with an impressive defensive line and speed all over the field. If Doug cares about Carson at all he will move the pocket and rely on Miles Sanders on the ground to keep the pass rush honest. On the defensive side, Schwartz will need to continue to mix it up with blitzes like he did against the Bengals, but he will need to pull his out of his ass in the secondary and learn that his CBs should not be playing 8-10 yards off the ball when playing man coverage. If Schwartz does a lot of the same in the secondary it could be a long day because Shanahan’s offense will exploit it and lead to another Eagles loss, this time in Prime Time. The Eagles will need to figure out how to get a win this week, or this streak of 3 straight playoff appearances will come to an end. Go Birds!
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 0-3, San Francisco 2-1
Where to Watch on TV
NBC* will broadcast Sunday’s game to a national audience. Al Michaels will handle the play-by-play duties and Chris Collinsworth will provide analysis and Michele Tafoya will report from the sidelines.
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
WIP-FM
94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA
WCTO-FM
96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey
WENJ-FM
97.3 FM
Levittown, PA
WBCB-AM
1490 AM
Northumberland, PA
WEGH-FM
107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA
WPPA-AM
1360 AM
Reading, PA
WEEU-AM
830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA
WEJL-FM
96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WEJL-AM
630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WBAX-AM
1240 AM
Williamsport, PA
WBZD-FM
93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE
WDEL-FM/AM
101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA
WSOX-FM
96.1 FM
Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
LA MEGA
105.7 FM
Allentown, PA
WSAN
1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ
WIBG
1020 AM; 101.3 FM
49ers Radio
49ers Radio Greg Papa will handle play-by-play and Tim Ryan will provide analysis for the game.
National Radio
Westwood One will broadcast the game nationally with Ryan Radtke handling the play by play and Terrell Davis will provide analysis.
October 6th, 1951 at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, PA . Philadelphia Eagles 21 - San Francisco 49ers 14.
Points Leader
Philadelphia Eagles lead San Francisco 49ers (749-733)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 1-0 against the 49ers
Kyle Shanahan: 0-1 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Kyle Shanahan: Pederson leads 1-0
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against 49ers: 1-0
Jimmy Garapolo: Against Eagles: 0-0
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz v Jimmy Garapolo: First meeting between QBs.
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Eagles lead 49ers: 3-2
Record @ Levi’s Stadium: 49ers lead Eagles 1-0
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 26 - 49ers No. 12
Record
Eagles: 0-2-1
49ers: 2-1
Last Meeting
Sunday, October 29th, 2017
Eagles 34 - 49ers 10
The Eagles looked to win their 6th game in a row against the winless San Francisco 49ers. The Eagles got off to a slow start, only leading 3–0 after the first quarter. Late in the second quarter, the Eagles blew the game open. Carson Wentz found tight end Zach Ertz for a 1-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone off of a bootleg pass, and Jalen Mills intercepted rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown. The 49ers appeared to have some life in the third quarter, following a Carson Wentz interception, leading to a Matt Breida 22 yard touchdown reception. However, the Eagles responded, with Wentz connecting with Alshon Jeffery for a 53-yard touchdown, putting the game out of reach. The Eagles went on to win 33–10 and advanced to 7–1 on the season. Despite the win, the Eagles played a sloppy game on a rainy afternoon in Philadelphia.
Eagles - The Eagles welcomed the Cincinnati Bengals to Lincoln Financial Field seeking their first win over Cincinnati since 2000. After a scoreless first quarter, the two teams traded field goals in the second, before the Bengals took a 10-6 lead on a touchdown reception by Tee Higgins. Wentz responded on the ensuing drive, as he threw his 100th career touchdown pass to Greg Ward to put the Eagles in front 13-10 at halftime. After the Eagles added another Jake Elliott field goal, the Bengals reclaimed a one-point lead with Higgins' second touchdown of the afternoon. Cincinnati would pad its lead to seven points with two fourth-quarter field goals. Trailing 23-16 with just over 3 minutes left in regulation, Philadelphia drove down the field to score the game-tying touchdown on a 7-yard run for Wentz. In overtime, both defenses held strong, with neither team being able to get into field goal range until the final drive, when the Eagles got to the Bengals' 41. However, a costly false start on Matt Pryor brought Philadelphia out of field goal range. The Eagles punted the ball, and the game ended on the following play with the Bengals at their own 20. Despite his milestone, Wentz's struggles continued as he also threw two interceptions for the third straight game and finished the game with a 62.8 passer rating. Philadelphia improved to 0-2-1 with the tie, but failed to snap their winless streak against Cincinnati and fell to 0-3-2 in their last five against the Bengals, including an 0-2-1 mark at Lincoln Financial Field. This marked the Eagles' first tie since 2008, which was also against the Bengals.
49ers - The way the San Francisco 49ers played, missing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and a slew of starters wasn't an issue against the woeful and winless New York Giants, who were also missing their best player in Saquan Barkley. 49ers backup Nick Mullens threw for 343 yards and a touchdown and the Niners controlled the ball on offense, took it away on defense and had another easy day on the East Coast in a 36-9 win at MetLife Stadium Sunday. San Francisco scored on seven of its first eight possessions. It would have been all eight but a snap-hold problem led to Gould missing a 55-yarder. He connected from 52, 32 and 26 yards. The Niners' ninth possession ended the game.
Connections
49ers Practice Squad LB Joe Walker played 3 seasons for the Eagles from 2016-2018.
49ers Offensive Quality Control Coach Miles Austin played one season for the Eagles in 2015.
49ers Inside LB coach Demeco Ryans played 4 seasons for the Eagles from 2012-2015.
49ers Assistant Special Teams coach Michael Clay was a Defensive Special Assistant (2014) and Assistant Special Teams coach(2015) from 2014-2015.
49ers RB Raheem Mosert was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and was placed on their practice squad before he was signed off the practice squad by the Miami Dolphins.
Eagles Special Teams coach Dave Fipp worked as the Assistant special teams coach for the 49ers from 2008-2010.
Eagles Senior Offensive Assistant Rich Scangarello worked as the QB coach for the 49ers from 2017-2018.
Eagles Senior Offensive Assistant Marty Mornhinweg worked for the 49ers as Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach from 1997-2000.
Eagles WR Marquise Goodwin played 3 seasons for the 49ers from 2017-2019.
2020 Pro Bowlers
Eagles
49ers
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)
FB Kyle Juszczyk (Starter)
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter)
TE George Kittle (Starter)
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
DE Nick Bosa (Starter)
LS Rick Lovato (Starter)
CB Richard Sherman(Starter)
TE Zach Ertz
SS Malcom Jenkings (1st Alt)
OT Lane Johnson (1st Alt
General
Referee: Bill Vinovich
Dating back to 2005, Philadelphia has won 6 of its last 8 games vs. San Francisco. In the last meeting between the two teams, the Eagles defeated the 49ers, 33-10, at Lincoln Financial Field.
Additionally, Philadelphia has captured 4 of its previous 5 road games against San Francisco since 2002.
The Eagles defense, which collected a season-high 8.0 sacks in Week 3 vs. Cincinnati, is tied for the 3rd-most sacks (12.0) in the NFL, behind Pittsburgh (15.0) and Washington (13.0).
Brandon Graham is tied for the 5th-most sacks (team-high 3.0) in the NFL this season. He needs only 1.0 sack to surpass Hugh Douglas (54.5, 1998-2002, ‘04) for the 4th-most sacks in team history, trailing only Reggie White (124.0, 1985-92), Trent Cole (85.5, 2005-14) and Clyde Simmons (76.0, 1986-93).
Miles Sanders has produced the 7th-most rushing yards (190) in the NFL since Week 2 (95 rushing yards each against the Rams and Bengals). Sanders has also totaled 100+ scrimmage yards in 4 of his last 5 regular-season games.
Draft Picks
Eagles
49ers
WR Jalen Raegor
DT Javon Kinlaw
QB Jalen Hurts
WR Brandon Aiyuk
LB Davion Taylor
OT Colton McKivitz
S K’Von Wallace
TE Charlie Woerner
OT Jack Driscoll
WR Jauan Jennings
WR John Hightower
LB Shaun Bradley
WR Quez Watkins
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
LB/DE Casey Toohill
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles
49ers
S Will Parks
OT Trent Williams
DT Javon Hargrave
WR Mohamed Sanu
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
DT Kerry Hyder
CB Darius Slay
C Hroniss Grasu
WR Tavon Austin
TE Jordan Reed
DE Dion Jordan
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles
49ers
S Malcom Jenkins
OT Joe Staley
CB Ronald Darby
DT Deforest Buckner
RB Jordan Howard
WR Emmanuel Sanders
WR Nelson Agholor
WR Marquise Goodwin
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai
DT Sheldon Day
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill
RG Mike Person
RB Darren Sproles
TE Garret Celek
DT Timmy Jernigan
LB Nigel Bradham
Milestones
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (6397) needs 68 yards to move up to 3rd on the Eagles all-time receiving yards list all-time passing WR *Mike Quick
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (34) needs 2 TDs to move into a tie for 7th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list tying WR Jeremy Maclin
Eagles DE Brandon Graham (54) needs 1 sack to move to 4th on the Eagles all-time sack list passing DE Hugh Douglas
Eagles DT Fletcher Cox (49) needs 1.5 sacks to move up to 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Greg Brown
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (27.5) needs 2 sacks to move up to 18th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DT Jerome Brown
49ers DE Arik Armstead(20) needs 2 sacks to move up to 20th on the 49ers all-time sack list passing OLB Parys Haralson.
Stats to Know
Receiving RBs
What if I told you the Niners have two of the league’s best receiving Running Backs? (Yes, one is hurt). What if I also told you the Eagles’ defenders are presently poop covering RBs against the pass? That about sums it up. Mr. McKinnon should have a fun day.
Matchups to Watch
Carson Wentz
This is the only real battle that matters since it's extremely difficult to win in the NFL with poor QB play. Wentz is among the worst QBs in the league to start the season and it could be a significant amount of time before he changes course. Even the most stalwart Wentz supporters must admit he is also a problem with this team right now. With that said, in order to win this game, and any game moving forward, the Eagles need Carson Wentz to improve. Philly can't use the injury excuse in this particular matchup as the Niners are one of the only teams to be in a similar or worse injury predicament than the Eagles. Even with the injuries, the Niners are able to show up and show out on a weekly basis... They are a great team. Wentz has had issues in all areas pertaining to play. He needs to be more precise, smarter, and more relaxed. This team sucks; it's likely no amount of heroism if going to pull this team from the depths of the league this season. The only thing Carson Wentz can do is his job. He's not responsible for coaching blunders, other injuries, or a GM that can't get anything right. Just get better and when he does, this team can actually be competitive.
Kyle Shanahan and his offensive genius vs Jim Schwartz and the LBs and Safeties
It should be no surprise the Eagles LBs and Safeties struggle in coverage as they did nothing in the offseason to add players that can cover. Plain and simple. This is a defense with a great defensive line, a great CB1, and that's it. They struggle to play consistent run defense now with the mediocre talent in the second and third levels. Kyle Shanahan is one of the most innovative offensive minds in the NFL; if you thought the thumping Sean McVay gave us was painful, wait until we see what's in store from the guy who mentored McVay. Shanahan lives for finding your weakest links in the LB and Safety rooms and exploiting that deficiency mercilessly. Nate Gerry is about to have his worst game ever - and that says something. George Kittle should return for this contest which is a tremendous mismatch that the Niners will exploit. Even the best cover guys in the league struggle against Kittle as he's just a monster. Shanahan will use all kinds of motion, misdirection, and play action that will cause this defense to struggle mightily absent some sort of miracle where they learn to play. I have faith that the defensive line can play well, but as we saw in week 2, all the motion, misdirection, and play action teams use can neutralize a pass rush. Lastly, can Schwartz even put his guys in better positions? Yeah, probably not.
Doug Pederson’s Offensive Game Plan vs the Niners Defense
I tried to have a more nuanced look at this matchup but it is difficult. The Eagles offense is marred by underachieving talent and injuries to start the season. Furthermore, they weren't given enough to work with by the front office but that is an entirely different discussion. Point blank: the offensive coaching staff, led by Doug Pederson, has struggled to consistently put its players in successful situations to start the season. It's not all Doug's fault but a large part of it is. There wasn't a real identity to this offense to start and that's only gotten worse 4 weeks in. This roster isn't going to suddenly improve overnight, if at all this season, so it's up to the coaching staff to help the offense succeed. There are a lot of new cooks involved in creating the offensive game plan but not enough overall direction from the man in charge. The Niners defense has plenty of injuries to key players as well; can they design a function offense built on spare parts to put up a fight? Or will they punt?
[Game Preview] Week 5 - Philadelphia Eagles(1-2-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0)
Philadelphia Eagles (1-2-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0)
It’s that time again for the battle of the Keystone state. The Eagles are looking to build on their first win of the season when they upset the 49ers last week on Sunday Night football, while the Steelers are looking to get back on the field as their game with the Titans was postponed due to the Titans being morons. The game will be a match up between two of the best defensive lines in the NFL this season. Eagles lead the league with 17 sacks, while the Steelers are right on their tail with 15 sacks despite playing one less game. The Eagles patch work offensive line held up last week against the 49ers but they were without their best pass rusher in Nick Bosa. This week, Jordan Mailata and the rest of the line will be tested early and often and will need to hold up to give Carson Wentz time to find his band of rag tag WRs. However, he may get some help this week with the return of Alshon Jeffrey who could be playing his first time since suffering a Lisfranc injury last season. Jeffrey will give Carson something he has been severely missing this season in a big WR who can make contested catches along the sidelines. The Eagles may also see the return of JJAW and Desean Jackson as both have practiced in a limited capacity this week after missing last week’s game due to hamstring injuries. Carson and the Eagles offense will need all the help they can get facing one of the league’s top defenses in a year where they have struggled to get much going in the first four games. On the other side of the ball the Eagles will face one of its toughest tests this season especially Darius Slay who will be following JuJu Smith Schuster. If Slay can shutdown the JuJu the Eagles offense will have a good chance of holding the Steelers in check and give a chance to their offense to win the game. We will see if the Eagles can hold on to the belt of PA this Sunday in their toughest test this season. Go Birds!
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 1-3, Pittsburgh 2-1
Where to Watch on TV
FOX will broadcast Sunday’s game to a regional audience. Kenny Albert will handle the play-by-play duties and Jonathan Vilma will provide analysis and Shannon Spake will report from the sidelines.
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
WIP-FM
94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA
WCTO-FM
96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey
WENJ-FM
97.3 FM
Levittown, PA
WBCB-AM
1490 AM
Northumberland, PA
WEGH-FM
107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA
WPPA-AM
1360 AM
Reading, PA
WEEU-AM
830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA
WEJL-FM
96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WEJL-AM
630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WBAX-AM
1240 AM
Williamsport, PA
WBZD-FM
93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE
WDEL-FM/AM
101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA
WSOX-FM
96.1 FM
Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
LA MEGA
105.7 FM
Allentown, PA
WSAN
1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ
WIBG
1020 AM; 101.3 FM
Steelers Radio
Steelers Radio Since 1995, Bill Hillgrove has served as the Voice of the Steelers and has handled play-by-play duties for the broadcast. Former Steelers All-Pro offensive tackle Tunch Ilkin joined the broadcast team in 2001 as an expert analyst. His former teammate, Craig Wolfley, has served as a sideline reporter since 2005. In 2019, Missi Matthews joined Craig Wolfley as an additional sideline reporter.
National Radio
ESPN Radio will broadcast the game nationally with Sean Kelley handling the play by play and Ben Hartstock will provide analysis.
November 19th 1933 at Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, PA . Philadelphia Eagles 25 - Pittsburgh Pirates 6
Points Leader
Philadelphia Eagles lead Pittsburgh Steelers (1498-1116)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 1-0 against the Steelers
Mike Tomlin: 1-2 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Mike Tomlin: Pederson leads 1-0
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against Steelers: 1-0
Ben Roethlisberger : Against Eagles: 2-2
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz v Ben Roethlisberger: Wentz leads 1-0
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Eagles lead Steelers: 2-0
Record @ Heinz Field: Steelers lead Eagles 2-0
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 20 - Steelers No. 6
Record
Eagles: 1-2-1
Steelers: 3-0
Last Meeting
Sunday, September 25th, 2016
Eagles 34 - Steelers 3
The Eagles blocked a Chris Boswell field goal on the opening drive to deny the Steelers three points. The Eagles drew first blood with a Caleb Strugis field goal to make the score 3–0. Early in the 2nd quarter, Rookie Quarterback Carson Wentz threw a 12-yard touchdown to Jordan Matthews to extend their lead to 10-0. The Steelers answered with a Chris Boswell field goal to make it 10-3 which ended up being their only scoring play of the day. Strugis notched another field goal to bring the score to 13–3 at the half. Early in the 2nd Half, Wentz threw his second TD of the day, a 73-yard touchdown to running back Darren Sproles. Following a 3 and out by the Steelers, rookie running back Wendell Smallwood found the endzone for his first career rushing touchdown and it extended the Eagles lead to 27–3. On the Steelers next drive, veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger fumbled the football which the Eagles recovered. The Eagles would add another score on a Kenjon Barner rushing touchdown. The Eagles defense which had shutdown and frustrated the Steelers offense most of the day forced one more turnover to seal the game when Roethlisberger threw an interception to Rodney McLeod. The Eagles added another field goal for a final score of 34-3.
The Eagles traveled to western Pennsylvania to take on longtime in-state rival Steelers at Heinz Field. After a scoreless first quarter, the Steelers were able to get on the board first with Rashard Mendenhall's 13-yard touchdown run for a 7–0 lead followed by Shaun Suisham's 20-yard field goal for a 10–0 lead at halftime. The Eagles went to work in the 3rd quarter as Michael Vick found LeSean McCoy on a 15-yard touchdown pass to shorten the lead to 10–7. The Steelers increased their lead with Suisham kicking a 37-yard field goal to make the score 13–7. The Eaglesl took the lead with Vick hooking up with Brent Celek on a 2-yard touchdown pass for a 14–13 score. However, the Steelers were able to drive down the field and Suisham wrapped up the game with a game-winning 34-yard field goal for a final score of 16–14.
Eagles - The Eagles traveled across the country following an embarrassing tie to the Bengals in week 3. Doug and Carson looked to redeem themselves against a team that was suffering from almost as many injuries as the Eagles. The Eagles struck first with Carson running the ball in on an 11 yard scramble. Doug felt that he needed to dust off his balls and show everyone that he did in fact still have them after pussying out last week, deciding to inexplicably go for 2, but it paid off to put the Eagles up 8-0. The 49ers answered with a score of their own when rookie WR Brandon Aiyuk hurdled Eagles safety Marcus Epps and found the endzone. After halftime the 49ers came out firing and took their first lead of the game with a George Kittle TD. The Eagles answered with a field goal to bring the score to 14-11. After the Nick Mullens fumble the Eagles took advantage as Carson Wentz dropped a dime to Tyler Fulgham for a 42 yard TD pass to give the EAgles a 18-14 lead. On the very next drive Mullens threw his second interception of the game right to Alex Singleton who took it to the house for a pick 6 and put the Eagles up 25-14. On the next possession, Jim Schwartz switched to his shitty sticks defense despite the 49ers putting in their 3rd string QB Beathard. Schwartz gifted Beathard easy throws as he quickly moved the ball down the field for an easy TD. The Eagles recovered an outside kick, but went three and out. Schwartz continued to see the error in his sticks defense as Beathard again moved the ball with ease, but thankfully the Eagles players made some plays breaking up some key passes and bailing out their coach’s poor decisions.
Steelers - Steelers game week 4 was postponed because the Titans are morons.
Connections
Eagles DT Javon Hargrave was drafted by the Steelers in the 3rd round of the 2016 NFL Draft and played 4 seasons with the Steelers before signing with the Eagles this past offseason.
Eagles senior director of player personnel was the General Manager for the Steelers from 1991-1999 and is from the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon.
Eagles RB Coach Duce Staley played 3 seasons for the Steelers from 2004-2006 winning Super Bowl XL with them in 2006.
Eagles TE Coach Justin Peele signed with the Steelers in 2012, but was released with the final cuts following training camp.
Eagles RB Miles Sanders is from Pittsburgh and attended Woodland Hills HS.
Steelers G/C Stefan Wisniewski played three seasons for the Eagles from 2016-2018 winning Super Bowl LII with them in 2017.
Steelers OT Alejandro Villanueva was signed by the Eagles in 2014 and placed on their Practice Squad before being signed off their PS by the Steelers later that season.
Steelers Practice Squad RB Wendell Smallwood was drafted by the Eagles in the 5th round of the 2016 draft and played 3 seasons with them from 2016-2018.
Steelers Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith was the Special Teams and DB coach for the Eagles from 1995-1998.
2020 Pro Bowlers
Eagles
Steelers
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)
C Maurkice Pouncey (Starter)
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter)
G David DeCastro
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
DT Cameron Heyward (Starter)
LS Rick Lovato (Starter)
OLB T. J. Watt (Starter)
TE Zach Ertz
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick (Starter)
SS Malcom Jenkings (1st Alt)
CB Joe Haden (1st Alt)
OT Lane Johnson (1st Alt
General
Referee: Ron Torbert
Philadelphia owns a 48-28-3 all-time record vs. Pittsburgh in a series that dates back to 1933. The Eagles have won 4 of the last 6 games against the Steelers, as well as 7 of the last 10.
The last time these two teams met was on 9/25/16 at Lincoln Financial Field, when Philadelphia defeated Pittsburgh, 34-3, in the second game of Carson Wentz’s NFL career and the second game of Doug Pederson’s tenure as the Eagles’ head coach.
Philadelphia is aiming for its first road victory at Pittsburgh since a 26-23 overtime win at Three Rivers Stadium on 11/12/00.
The Eagles (17.0) and Steelers (15.0) enter this week’s matchup ranked 1st and 2nd in the NFL in sacks, respectively. This is the first time Philadelphia has led the league in sacks during Weeks 1-4 since 2011 (15.0, tied with Washington). It is also the Eagles’ most sacks through 4 games since 2008 (also 17.0).
Pittsburgh native Miles Sanders ranks 5th in the NFL with 236 rushing yards since his season debut in Week 2, trailing only Dal-vin Cook, Aaron Jones, Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon.
Draft Picks
Eagles
Steelers
WR Jalen Raegor
WR Chase Claypool
QB Jalen Hurts
OLB Alex Highsmith
LB Davion Taylor
RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
S K’Von Wallace
G Kevin Dotson
OT Jack Driscoll
S Antoine Brooks
WR John Hightower
ST Carlos Davis
LB Shaun Bradley
WR Quez Watkins
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
LB/DE Casey Toohill
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles
Steelers
S Will Parks
FB Derek Watt
DT Javon Hargrave
G/C Stefan Wisniewski
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
TE Eric Ebron
CB Darius Slay
Dt Chris Wormley
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles
Steelers
S Malcom Jenkins
DT Javon Hargrave
CB Ronald Darby
G Ramon Foster
RB Jordan Howard
TE Nick Vannett
WR Nelson Agholor
OL B.J. Finney
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai
LB Tyler Matakevich
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill
CB Artie Burns
RB Darren Sproles
S Sean Davis
DT Timmy Jernigan
FB Roosevelt Nix
LB Nigel Bradham
Milestones
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (6397) needs 68 yards to move up to 3rd on the Eagles all-time receiving yards list all-time passing WR Mike Quick
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (34) needs 2 TDs to move into a tie for 7th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list tying WR Jeremy Maclin
Eagles DE Brandon Graham (54) needs 1 sack to move to 4th on the Eagles all-time sack list passing DE Hugh Douglas
Eagles DT Fletcher Cox (49) needs 1.5 sacks to move up to 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Greg Brown
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (27.5) needs 2 sacks to move up to 18th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DT Jerome Brown
Steelers DT Cameron Heyward (54.5) needs 3 sacks to move up to 5th on the Steelers all-time sack list passing OLB LaMarr Woodley
Steelers DT Bud Dupree (34) needs 2 sacks to move up to 10th on the Steelers all-time sack list passing LB Lawrence Timmons and LB **Kevin Greene)
Stats to Know
Battle of the Defensive Lines
This game will feature two of the top Pressure-generating Defensive Lines. Watt, Dupree, and Tuitt are all in the top 10 DLmen in pressures, with 18, 17, and 17. Meanwhile, the Eagles feature 3 in the top 20. Graham, Jackson, and Cox have netted 15, 14, and 13. Considering Philadelphia's makeshift OL and that QB Wentz has a remarkable 20.0 passer rating under pressure, this could get ugly.
Matchups to Watch
Steelers Offensive Line vs Eagles Defensive Line
As the Eagles defensive line goes so goes the defense. That statement has always been true for the Eagles under Jim Schwartz, but that has never been more emphasized this year given the lack of talent elsewhere on the defense especially at LB. This defensive line has been firing on all cylinders with a league leading 17 sacks through 4 games. This has been especially the last two weeks, helping to limit any potential damages they may take during games. Two weeks ago, Burrow was sacked 8 times; they followed that up with 5 more sacks this past Sunday night. Additionally, Philly pressured Niners starting QB Nick Mullen on 50% of his drop backs, a massive figure. They'll need that juice to carry over this week again and like it did the last time these two teams faced each other 4 years ago. It also must be said the Eagles need their talented defensive line to control the LOS to prohibit any Steelers rushing attack. Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, and Malik Jackson are all off to hot starts on the season. Newbie Javon Hargrave, making his first return trip to Pittsburgh this Sunday, had a slow start missing the first game of the season due to a training camp injury, but he has started to heat up the last two weeks. Derek Barnett had probably his best game one week ago and is looking to build off that as the season continues. If it does, then it'll look like Barnett has taken a long-awaited jump in play. Josh Sweat is starting to prove his own hot start isn't a fluke either. Genard Avery decided to throw his name into the ring last week getting multiple pressures and notching a sack and 5 QB hits against the 49ers Control the LOS and you can control the game. That has to happen again on Sunday if the Eagles want a chance to win.
Steelers bevy of Offensive Skill Position Players vs the Eagles Depleted Secondary
Last week, the Eagles did a great job containing the Niners outside receivers and predictably got obliterated by George Kittle. That last part isn't surprising since Kittle does that to everyone but the Eagles have already shown a total inability to defend TEs and the middle of the field on defense due to being completely devoid at talent at the LB position. Additionally, the Eagles struggle to really cover anyone since they don't have a member of the secondary that can consistently cover like Darius Slay. Granted, Jalen Mills had a decent game last week, but the Steelers offensive weapons are much deeper than the Niners. Dionte Johnson, Juju Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool, and Eric Ebron will all be very difficult for the Eagles to defend as the game goes along. They each have different skill sets but what they all possess is an ability to consistently get open for Big Ben. We've also seen Juju, Dionte, and Claypool all create big plays after they catch the ball. The Eagles will have to come out with a gameplan to account for this and play disciplined enough to prohibit the big play. There is still a lot of room for error on the back half of this Eagles denese; if they can execute like they did this past Saturday night, that would help limit the potential damage.
Steelers Pass Rush vs The Eagles Revolving Door of Offensive Linemen
If there is one thing the Eagles prioritize more than anything in the draft and in free agency it's building a great offensive line with a lot of depth. This has been a pillar of the organization for over two decades and it has paid off for the Eagles the entire time. Few times in recent history has that philosophy been put to the test and stressed the team like it has so far in 2020. As it stands, the Eagles have, at best, a league-average offensive line and that's largely due to injury as they are currently missing their starting LT, RG, and LG. Sunday has a chance to be the 5th time in 5 weeks the Eagles will have a different starting offensive line combination if Lane Johnson can't go this week. Poor offensive line can cripple an offense. It can derail a passing attack if the offensive line can't keep the offense in a rhythm and keep the QB from being under duress. It forces coaches to give extra attention to the area which takes away from their ability to be creative when they need to leave an extra guy in to block. Additionally, constant OL shuffling and a degradation in talent can hinder a rushing attack since the players on the bottom end of the roster just can't execute at a high level the pillars of the offense. That's a situation the Eagles find themselves in on Sunday against one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL. The Eagles offensive line had their hands full against a Niners line that is still good despite its own major injury issues. At EDGE, the Steelers have a perennial DPOY candidate in TJ Watt to go along with a solid and athletic pass rusher in Bud Dupree. They also have stalwarts in the interior with Cameron Hayward and Stephon Tuitt. Long time NFL veteran Tyson Alualu, former 1st round pick of the Jaguars, has suddenly elevated his game and is off to the best start in his career as well. The defensive front is very disruptive when paired with their LBs who excel in both run support and on blitz in Devin Bush and Vince Williams. Steelers DC Keith Butler is creative with his looks and pressure packages while being blessed without the need to blitz constantly. Even if Lane Johnson starts he won't be 100% and that's a problem for the Eagles. A Lane Johnson at less than 100% is still better than most NFL tackles but it'll likely be taxing to the Eagles since the depth of talent the Steelers have across their defensive line. The Eagles are down to mostly nobodies on offense and really need to get creative to string together some plays to have a modestly effective offense. Even when Wentz is on his A-game, offensive execution will still require near 100% effectiveness just to have a chance. This is perhaps one of the biggest OL/DL mismatches in the NFL in week 5 and one the Eagles don't figure to have a ton of success. If they are able to control the line of scrimmage on offense more successfully than previous Steelers opponents, that would go a long way in pulling out a win.
[Game Preview] Week 3 - Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) at Philadelphia Eagles(0-2)
Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-2)
The Eagles are off to their worst start with a real coach since 2003 (I consider 2013-2015 non-existent) when they also dropped their first two games of the season. The team would like a repeat of that season where following a week 3 bye,the team rebounded to defeat the Bills 23-13. The Eagles ripped off 12 wins in their remaining 14 games following their 0-2 start. Maybe the Eagles will be able to do the same, but they will have to shake the injury bug first. The Eagles will be without first round pick Jalen Raegor this week who underwent surgery on his hand to repair a torn UC ligament in his thumb. The Eagles may also be without Fletcher Cox who is dealing with an oblique injury. The Cox injury should be watched closely if he can’t go, Joe Mixon and Joe Burrow will have a much easier day against the struggling defense. Last week against the Rams, the defense was under prepared and unable to stop anyone. The Rams took advantage of Jim Schwartz’s consistently odd decision to have his CBs, play so far off the line of scrimmage, giving a free release to the WRs and allowing easy short passes. If Schwartz does the same this week, it will be another long day for the Eagles defense and a great fantasy day for Tyler Boyd, who Bengals Joe Burrow connected with 7 times last week including 1 for a TD. On the other side of the ball Doug and Carson will both need to be better than the last two weeks. For Carson, he needs to get out of his own head and play with confidence. For Doug, he needs to find some creativity and help his 5th year QB. He would do well to get Carson moving and utilize the RBs more in the flat and screen game. However, if we see more of the same we saw in weeks 1 and 2 from the Eagles coaching staff, we should expect another loss. Hopefully that is not the case and Carson and the coaches can learn from their mistakes in weeks 1-2 and pull our a win this week. Go Birds!
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
WIP-FM
94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA
WCTO-FM
96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey
WENJ-FM
97.3 FM
Levittown, PA
WBCB-AM
1490 AM
Northumberland, PA
WEGH-FM
107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA
WPPA-AM
1360 AM
Reading, PA
WEEU-AM
830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA
WEJL-FM
96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WEJL-AM
630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WBAX-AM
1240 AM
Williamsport, PA
WBZD-FM
93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE
WDEL-FM/AM
101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA
WSOX-FM
96.1 FM
Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
LA MEGA
105.7 FM
Allentown, PA
WSAN
1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ
WIBG
1020 AM; 101.3 FM
Bengals Radio
Bengals Radio Dan Hoard will handle play-by-play and Dave Lapham will provide analysis for the game.
National Radio
Compass Media will broadcast the game nationally with Chris Carrino handling the play by play and Brian Baldinger will provide analysis.
September 19th, 1971 at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, OH . CIncinnati Bengals 37 Philadelphia Eagles 14
Points Leader
Cincinnati Bengals lead Philadelphia Eagles (360-222)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 0-1 against the Bengals
Zac Taylor: 0-0 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Zac Taylor: First meeting between coaches
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against Rams: 0-1
Joe Burrow: Against Eagles: 0-0
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz vs Joe Burrow: First meeting between QBs.
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Bengals lead Eagles: 2-0
Record @ Paul Brown Stadium: Bengals lead Eagles 1-0-1
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 23 - Bengals No. 28
Record
Eagles: 0-2
Bengals: 0-2
Last Meeting
Sunday, December 4th, 2016
Eagles 32 - Rams 14
Andy Dalton threw a pair of touchdown passes and Cincinnati finally got its depleted offense moving without receiver A.J. Green, and the Bengals sent the Philadelphia Eagles to their most lopsided loss of the season, 32-14 on Sunday.
Andy Dalton threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score, an opportunistic defense forced five turnovers, and Cincinnati beat the Philadelphia Eagles 34-13 on Thursday night. The Eagles offense imploded turning the ball over 4 times with another turnover on a kick off. At one point the Eagles turned the ball over on 3 straight possessions. The Eagles lost double digit games for the first time since 2005, in one of the last games the Eagles were coached by Andy Reid.
Eagles - The Eagles' struggles continued in their home opener against the Los Angeles Rams. An early fumble by Miles Sanders led to a Rams touchdown by Tyler Higbee. After the Eagles cut their deficit to four with a Jake Elliott field goal, Los Angeles responded with a Robert Woods touchdown run followed by a second Higbee touchdown catch. Trailing 21-3, the Eagles closed the deficit to five points by halftime with touchdown runs by Wentz and Sanders. After forcing a three-and-out on the Rams' first possession of the second half, the Eagles would drive to the Los Angeles 21, only for Wentz's first down pass to be picked off by Darious Williams, turning the momentum back in the Rams' favor as they would outscore the Eagles 16-3 the rest of the way. Despite not being sacked once during the game, Wentz finished the day with a 56.5 passer rating, completing 26 of 43 passes for 242 yards and two interceptions. The 37-19 blowout loss dropped Philadelphia to 0-2 for the first time since the 2015 season, and marked the Eagles' first home opener loss since that same season. It was also the first home loss to the Rams franchise since the opener of the 2001 season.
Bengals - After losing their regular season-opening game at home, the Bengals then traveled to Cleveland to face the Browns for Battle of Ohio Round 1. In the first quarter, the Bengals scored first when Randy Bullock kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 3-0. Though, the Browns took the lead when Nick Chubb ran for an 11-yard TD to make it 7-3. In the second quarter, the Browns went up by double digits when Baker Mayfield found O'dell Beckham Jr. on a 43-yard TD pass to make it 14-3. The Bengals then came within 4 after Joe Burrow found C.J. Uzomah on a 23-yard TD pass to make it 14-10. Mayfield then found Kareem Hunt on a 6-yard TD pass to put the Browns up by double digits, 21-10. The Bengals closed out the half when Randy Bullock kicked a 43-yard field goal to make it 21-13 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Browns went back up by double digits when Chubb ran for a 1-yard TD to make it 28-13. The Bengals drew closer with Bullock's 27-yard field goal to make it 28-16. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals were able to get within 5 when Burrow found Mike Thomas on a 4-yard TD pass to make the score 28-23. Though, the Browns would go back up by double digits yet again when Hunt punched the ball in for a 1-yard TD to make it 35-23. The Bengals wrapped up the scoring when Burrow found Tyler Boyd on a 9-yard TD pass to make the final score 35-30.
Connections
Bengals HC Zac Taylor is the older brother of Eagles QB Press Taylor.
Bengals TE Coach James Casey played two seasons for the Eagles from 2013-2014.
Bengals assistant Special Teams coach Colt Anderson played 4 seasons for the Eagles from 2010-2013.
Eagles Run game coordinatodefensive line coach Matt Burke was the LB coach for the Bengals from 2014-2015.
Eagles DB coach Marquand Manuel played for the Bengals from 2002-2003.
2020 Pro Bowlers
Eagles
Bengals
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)
DT Geno Atkins
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter)
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
LS Rick Lovato (Starter)
TE Zach Ertz
SS Malcom Jenkings (1st Alt)
OT Lane Johnson (1st Alt
General
Referee: Adrian Hill
Philadelphia hosts Cincinnati at Lincoln Financial Field for just the third time in the all-time series and first time since 2012. Sunday marks the 14th overall meeting between the two teams.
The Eagles are 23-10 (.697) at home in the regular season under head coach Doug Pederson, which is tied for the 6th-best home winning percentage in the NFL since 2016, trailing only New En-gland (.818, 27-6), Baltimore (.758, 25-8), Kansas City (.758, 25-8), New Orleans (.727, 24-9) and Green Bay (.712, 23-9-1).
In Week 2 vs. L.A. Rams, Miles Sanders combined for 131 scrim-mage yards (3rd-most in a single game in his career), including 95 rushing (1 TD) and 36 receiving. In 2019, Sanders led his class with a franchise-rookie-record 1,327 scrimmage yards.
Brandon Graham recorded sack No. 52 of his NFL career against Rams QB Jared Goff in Week 2 vs. L.A. Rams. His 52.0 sacks are the 5th-most in Eagles history, behind Reggie White (124.0, 1985-92), Trent Cole (85.5, 2005-14), Clyde Simmons (76.0, 1986-93) and Hugh Douglas (54.5, 1998-2002, ‘04).
Draft Picks
Eagles
Bengals
WR Jalen Raegor
QB Joe Burrow
QB Jalen Hurts
WR Tee Higgins
LB Davion Taylor
LB Logan Wilson
S K’Von Wallace
LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
OT Jack Driscoll
DE Khalid Kareem
WR John Hightower
T Hakeem Adeniji
LB Shaun Bradley
LB Marcus Bailey
WR Quez Watkins
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
LB/DE Casey Toohill
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles
Bengals
S Will Parks
NT DJ Reader
DT Javon Hargrave
CB Trae Waynes
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
CB Mackensie Alexander
CB Darius Slay
G Xavier Su’a-Filo
LB Josh Bynes
WR Mike Thomas
S Vonn Bell
CB Leshaun Sims
RB Jacques Patrick
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles
Bengals
S Malcom Jenkins
QB Andy Dalton
CB Ronald Darby
CB Dre Kirkpatrick
RB Jordan Howard
G John Miller
WR Nelson Agholor
OT Cordy Glenn
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai
TE Tyler Eifert
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill
WR Marqise Lee
RB Darren Sproles
CB Darqueze Dennard
DT Timmy Jernigan
DT Andrew Billings
LB Nigel Bradham
S Clayton Fejedelem
Milestones
Eagles QB Carson Wentz (99) needs 1 passing TDs for 100 career passing TDs.
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (6386 needs 79 yards to move up to 3rd on the Eagles all-time receiving yards list all-time passing WR *Mike Quick
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (34) needs 2 TDs to move into a tie for 7th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list tying WR Jeremy Maclin
Eagles DE Brandon Graham (52) needs 2.5 sacks to move to 4th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Hugh Douglas
Eagles DT Fletcher Cox (48) needs 2.5 sacks to move up to 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Greg Brown
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (27) needs 1 sack to move up to 19th on the Eagles all-time sack list passing DT Darwin Walker
Bengals WR AJ Green (8987) needs 13 yards to reach 9000 receiving yards for his career.
Bengals WR AJ Green (63) needs 3 receiving TDs to move into a tie with Chad Johnson for the most receiving TDs in Bengals history.
Stats to Know
QB Adjusted Completion %
What’s one thing rookie Joe Burrow and 5th-year Carson Wentz have in common? They have not been terribly accurate so far. PFF has an Adjusted Completion % stat that accounts for clear drops, spikes, throw aways, batted passes, and throws made while getting hit. Burrow and Wentz are near the bottom in AC%, with 70.4 and 70.3, respectively. Interesting to note a bit of the distribution within the array of aforementioned stats: while Burrow has had one of the lower rates of on-target passes dropped by the receiver (4.1%), Wentz doubled that at 8.4%, good for 5th-highest. Yes, Wentz has stunk, but...
Matchups to Watch
Rookie versus Veteran, Which QB Has Poise Down 0-2?
With two consecutive weeks of porous defense from both the Eagles and Bengals defensive units, this Sunday's matchup should rest squarely on the shoulders of each offensive unit. Will the Eagles be able to rely on fifth year starter Wentz? Will he be able to shake off two tumultuous weeks and put together a consistent offensive performance? Will the Bengals weapons coalesce around their rookie Burrow? Will he be able to put together his first complete NFL game and demonstrate that this season is the turning point for the franchise? A big piece of Wentz stabilizing his game time performance will be continuing his focus on short-time-to-throw plays. From Week 1 with 8 sacks versus the Washington Football Team to Week 2 and zero sacks versus the Rams with the vaunted Aaron Donald, the Eagles Offensive Line and Wentz’ pocket choices resulted in less lost yards and broken plays. Unfortunately, key turnovers again forced short-yardage scoring situations and massive tempo swings. Wentz needs to take advantage of the cleaner pocket that will likely be available versus the Bengals (2 sacks on the year so far) and finish drives cleanly to put the game away. Without rookie WR Jalen Reagor (placed on IR with a thumb injury after Week 2), Wentz will have to make use of the remainder of his threats, including veteran DeSean Jackson who had 6 catches on 9 targets for 64 yards against the superior Rams’ defensive backfield. Joe Burrow has had the classic introductory NFL QB experience. A high-flying game versus the Browns last week, with 300+ yards passing, 3TDs and zero ints was fantastic bounce back from Week 1 versus the Chargers. 193 yards, 0 TDs, and an int will not win the game for the Bengals versus the Eagles, even if Wentz struggles. A key focus for Burrow will be settling into the routine and relationships he’s formed with his offensive weapons. AJ Green remains one of the best WR threats in the NFL and his slow start to the season (8 catches for 80 yards) could end at any time, in any game with a QB like Burrow. Burrow threw a nearly record setting number of passes during the almost-come-from-behind loss versus the Browns; if the Bengals are able to establish their run-game and abuse the Philadelphia secondary in a similar way to the Rams offensive scheme, then Burrow could have a very big day. If he is forced to drop back 60+ times, and Joe Mixon is again held under 75 yards on the ground, the Bengals and Burrow may have a hard time. Keep an eye on how comfortable each QB is feeling, and whether they can establish good tempo. That will be key to offensive production this weekend.
Coaching Conundrum; Pederson versus Taylor
At the core of the NFL these days is the combat between offensive and defensive schemes. Both coaches come from a background of coaching QB play and offensive schemes, though from different eras and coaching trees. How they go about using that experience to enable their teams to a secure a necessary win this week will make or break their seasons. Doug Pederson, at the helm of a revamped offensive coaching tree with the addition of Quarterbacks Coach Press Taylor as Passing Game Coordinator, has had a rough three year stretch of offensive stumbles. Since the miraculous Super Bowl 52 season (2017), the Eagles have consistently failed to be productive, with a lot of the challenges relating to lack of roster depth and poor player improvement through misaligned coaching. This is the third consecutive year of stuttering offense to begin the season and a big piece of the matchup versus the Bengals will be how well the Eagles can settle in. Coach Pederson has made it clear that the lack of full-speed off-season practice plays a big role in the Eagle’s struggles so far; so it remains to be seen when and if both units can make use of this gametime practice to solidify the small flashes of prior success we’ve seen. Opposite Pederson is Coach Taylor, in his second year of a complete rebuild, now with the (ideally career-long) franchise WB in Burrow. Hailing from the Shanahan line, through the LA Rams McVay, Taylor was brought into Cincinnati to recreate the organization’s coaching structure and form a new core for the team around veteran WR AJ Green. The 2019 season showed marked improvement throughout, particularly in run production and passer protection; the addition of Covid-related practice limitations have also taken their toll on the Bengals’ preparations for this season, as exemplified by the Week 1 drubbing by the Ravens. Taylor returns this season with second-year offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, formerly the QB coach for the Raiders. The cerebral talent in the Bengals organization is clearly arrayed around giving Burrow the best possible chance to shine; and they may just do so against an extremely poorly performing Eagles defense. Being able to establish consistent offensive strength and consistency throughout this season will be a key part of whether this new coaching structure is able to flourish in Cincinnati or if yet more change is needed to remake the franchise. During game day, keep an eye out on how these coaches make use of their star players, now that the very early season yips and stumbles should be behind them. Whoever can appropriately adjust to the flow of the game and take advantage of the others mistakes will win this football game.
The Big Punt: How Special Teams Makes An Impact
Kevin versus Cameron, Huber versus Johnston, two players that may very well decide the nature of this Bengals versus Eagles matchup. These titans of the turf, two punters to rule them all, and two punters to pin them deep; two punters waiting on call, and two punters to make fans weep. In lieu of offensive production, and in hopes of good defensive play, Kevin Huber and Cameron Johnston bring their punting prowess to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday. Hailing from opposite sides of the Earth, Huber from Cincinnati itself, and Johnston from Geelong Australia, these two are some of the most capable foot-based deliverers of the football to opposing teams. Huber holds nearly all of the Bengals franchise records in punting statistics; and Johnston holds the highest gross and net punting averages in a single Eagles season. The third year Australian punter is known by Eagles fans for his insanely long hang-time and penchant for pinning the NY Giants inside the 20 (20+ times in four games). Huber is loved by the Bengals fanbase as both their longest tenured player and his consistency over the past 13 years. He has missed just 2 of 180 possible games, and has been perennially top 10 at his position. Both players are in the final year of their contracts, so effective performance is a must for maximum salary gains. Keep an eye out on how effective these two are in establishing and keeping good field position. If both teams are struggling for consistency, these swings may be the key to a late drive that puts the game away. Additionally, with every punt comes the magic of a muffed punt return. If you’re a particular connoisseur of special teams play, watch and see if these punters add any special spin or location to their strikes; and key turnover last week in this position kept the Eagles hopeful. Maybe lightning will strike twice for the Eagles Special Teams and the Wizard with the Large Leg, Cam Johnston; maybe the Bengals gunners will scoop up a muff and Huber will be huger than expected. Stay tuned!
Special thanks to belisaurius and abenyishay for their help in creating this Game Preview.
Offseason Blueprint: if the Boston Celtics turn their Big Hero 6 into the Magnificent Seven, they may be in the Finals themselves next year
The NBA Finals are underway, but there are now 28 teams sitting at home with nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs, watch LeBron, and wait for next season to start. For their sake, we wanted to look ahead with the next edition of the OFFSEASON BLUEPRINT series. In each, we'll preview some big decisions and make some recommendations for plans of attack along the way. Today, we're looking at the Boston Celtics. step one: don't flush money down the toilet This is a difficult entry to write, because the Boston Celtics are a good team without any major problems hanging over their head. They were top 5 in W-L record, top 5 in point differential. They finished 4th in offense, 4th in defense. They advanced to the Conference Finals, knocking off a tough Toronto team along the way. If they rolled it back next season, they should be considered a top 5 team once again. If you can nitpick, you can find reasons to quibble with some of their big splash free agency signings. Gordon Hayward got a huge contract and didn't sustain his All-Star level (for reasons out of his control.) Last offseason, the team gave out another huge contract to Kemba Walker ($32M + $34M + $36M + $38M player option), and they may be regretting that now. Walker never looked at 100% health and he got picked on some defensively in the playoffs. The idea of paying him that kind of money for three more seasons may be a little scary. Of course, there's no use crying over spilled milk. Gordon Hayward will likely "opt in" to his $34M player option. Is that an overpay? Sure. Still, Hayward is still a solid starter with a balanced skill set. With another year removed from that injury, he may take another step up. As for Walker, the hope is that he'll do the same with an offseason to recover and another year in the system. It can't be easy to go from the star of a franchise to the 2nd or 3rd option. In fact, most of Walker's offensive decline can be chalked up to a reduced role. His PPG dropped from 25.6 to 20.4, but that comes after his minutes dropped by 3.8 and his field goal attempts dropped by 4.4 per game. In terms of his efficiency, there wasn't a big difference. He actually scored a higher true shooting percentage (up from 56% to 58%). His offensive box plus/minus stayed near the same at + 4.9, which ranked as the highest on Boston's team. Walker didn't look great in the bubble, but I'm going to chalk that up to some lingering injuries. He's still only 30 years old, so he hasn't gotten materially worse in a year. Will he get much worse by age 32? At 33? That's possible. But again, the Celtics have already committed to that. They can try to float trade packages for Walker to get off that contract, but I don't see teams beating down their door for it. If a team like the Knicks wants Walker, they may not offer anything back in return (aside from their willingness to take the contract.) Given Boston's situation as a team on the verge of the Finals, it doesn't make a lot of sense to take a step back like that just for cap relief. step two: promote a temp to a full time desk The Boston Celtics have a very strong "top six." You have the two rising stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. You have the two veterans in Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward. You have the super role players in Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis. After that, it's more of a grab bag. No other player on the team averaged more than 20 minutes a night in the regular season, and no other player averaged more than 18 minutes a night in the postseason. A team can make a deep run in the playoffs by going six strong, but it makes the margin of error narrower. When one of those players gets hurt -- like Gordon Hayward did this postseason -- it strains your depth. Beyond that, having an extra member of the full-time cast allows your players to take nights off and manage their minutes in anticipation of that deep playoff run. Hayward and Walker are both 30 now, so it's going to be important to keep them fresh. Effectively, we want to take this "top six" and make it a "top seven." (Hence the post title.) The top candidate for a promotion would be rookie PF Grant Williams. To me, Williams has more offensive potential than fellow forward Semi Ojeleye. After three good years at Tennessee, Williams dropped to # 22 in the draft based on the perception that he was more of a "college player" who couldn't keep up with NBA athletes. That didn't look to be the case so far for Williams (or for Cam Johnson in Phoenix, by the by.) Williams is a high-IQ player who can potentially play several different positions. He needs to keep increasing his range (25% from three), but he's been working toward that over his career. If he can take a leap next year, that'd be a major boon for the Celtics. Fellow rookies Romeo Langford and Carsen Edwards may be slightly behind on the development curve, but it'd be great if they could get on the track toward the rotation eventually. Langford projects as a quality scorer who could potentially replace Gordon Hayward in the lineup in 1-2 years. Meanwhile, Edwards was a major shot maker in college who still has a lot of work to do. It may be too optimistic to think he could be a starter one day, but perhaps he could take the reserve role from Brad Wanamaker (a free agent.) If not, Tremont Waters (another rookie) may try to vie for that spot himself. It's not exactly Game of Thrones, but it's Game of Bench Seats. If nothing are ready for 15 or so minutes, then the team may need to re-sign Wanamaker or another filler vet. In an ideal world, the Celtics would have faith that Robert Williams would be ready for an elevated role himself. They may lean more toward smallball bigs, but it's nice to have the option of a more traditional big at center as well. Enes Kanter has a player option for $5M that he may take -- he may not. He may try to finagle a longer-term deal somewhere. But if the team trusts the Time Lord, they can negotiate from a position of strength on that front. No matter what happens, the Celtics will likely need their "7th man" to come from within. They have $120M committed on the cap for next season, so they're going to need to rely on internal improvements. step three: bundle like the Big Short If you thought the Boston Celtics had a lot of prospects in their "farm system" already, just wait. In this upcoming draft, they'll have pick # 14. And pick # 26. And pick # 30. And pick # 47. Danny Ainge has always valued the draft and having a lot of picks, but we don't need this many. After all, we're trying to win the NBA title, not the G-League title. The most obvious tactic would be bundling up these assets and trying to upgrade somehow. Like in The Big Short, perhaps a bunch of low-end assets can equal something of value. Still, the Celtics and their fans need to be reasonable here. They've tried bundling up lower draft picks in order to move for a while now, and always seem surprised when teams reject it (thinking of the potential Justise Winslow trade-up, primarily.) The truth is, these mid-to-late R1 picks aren't as valuable as many people seem to think. If the team packages all four of those picks together (14, 26, 30, 47) in order to move up, they may only land around pick # 9 or so. This isn't the NFL; NBA teams tend to value quality over quantity in the draft. For a team that's already pretty strong and balanced, there may be a tendency to keep all their picks and just swing for a home run or two. The trouble is: there's only so much room on the roster. Consolidating (or pushing some of those picks back to future drafts) may be necessary. If the Celtics can't move up and stay at # 14, they should have the option of getting another solid prospect. Some that may be intriguing to me personally would be Arizona SG/SF Josh Green ("Green"? karmic!), Villanova SF Saddiq Bey, or Maryland PF Jalen Smith. All three are quality prospects that project as rotational players in a year or two. A bigger home run swing may be Aleksej Pokusevski, the skilled 7'0" stretch big from Serbia. Pokusevski's narrow frame would make me nervous to bet on him if I was a GM on the ropes who needed to hit on my pick, but the Celtics have more freedom than that. They can take some chances if they want. Other upside plays would include PG/SG R.J. Hampton (U.S./New Zealand) and SF Jaden McDaniels (Washington). With the # 26 pick, the Celtics could also get a decent prospect as well. You can never go wrong with a traditional 3+D prospect like SF Robert Woodard (Mississippi State). I also wouldn't rule out taking a traditional big like Vernon Carey (Duke). No one wants traditional scoring bigs anymore, but that's the reason that a player like that (who averaged 18-9 as a freshman) would slip down to # 24. In another era, the kid may be a top 10 pick. At the very least, he could replace the Enes Kanter role as a scoring sub. step four: keep on truckin' Hmm. Usually these offseason blueprints have 4 or 5 steps, but I'm running out of ideas here. As mentioned, things are running pretty smoothly for this franchise. I don't think Danny Ainge needs much help from reddit right now. Still, I'll throw in some minor little notes that don't even merit a full section. WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? The Celtics have a lot of shot makers, but sometimes their offense can stall and fall into iso or hero ball. They need to keep pushing forward with ball movement and set plays if need be. One stat I noticed: Jaylen Brown is an exceptional shooter from the corner. He's at 43% from his career, and that swelled to 48% this season. Running action to get him more of those shots would be helpful. REUNITE GERMANY. The team has a $5M option on center Daniel Theis that they'll definitely pick up. After that, Theis will be an unrestricted free agent. If I ran the team, I'd start talking to Theis about an extension. There may be a perception that the team can play any smallball center and save some money at the position, but I'd disagree. Theis is an underrated player that fits the modern NBA well. There may be a matchup here and there where he struggles, but overall he's a good starter and may need to be paid like one. He's still a little "under the radar," so perhaps they can get a team-friendly deal if they extend him now. KEEP YOUR COACHING DEPTH STRONG. Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga is one of the better lieutenants in the game. He had been floated for some head coaching jobs in the past, but seems to have been lost in the shadows with all the major movement on the sidelines this year. Hopefully, for Boston's sake, Larranaga doesn't feel discouraged by that and doesn't start looking for head coaching opportunities elsewhere. His father is a good college coach, and he may decide to go that NCAA route eventually himself. The team should keep him well compensated so he doesn't feel the need to do that. Overall, we're talking minor tweaks for this next season. The Celtics' chances of winning a title will hinge on how much they can improve -- both from their young stars and from their young bench. other offseason blueprints ATL, BKN, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, GS, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NO, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SA, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS
Our 2020/21 Premier League season preview package has the best antepost betting tips, outright, relegation and Golden Boot specials along with team previews. Infogol's Expected Goals Conceded ... Premier League final day betting preview: Trust Foxes and Eagles on a goal-crazy day. Crystal Palace and Leicester fancied on a day that usually sees goals galore Betting on A-League has grown in popularity with a number of ways to place bets on soccer increasing dramatically in recent years. From simply backing the winner or result of a single match to predicting premiership winners, top goalscorers, wooden spoonists and whether or not a player will be yellow or red-carded, the opportunity to bet on A-League soccer has never been greater. Everton are looking to make it four wins from our in the Premier League when they host Brighton on Saturday and Goal has the latest betting ... Betting Tips: Latest odds, team news, preview and ... Manchester City vs Leicester City betting tips: Premier League preview, predictions & odds. Match scheduled for September 27, 2020.
My Premier League 2019/20 WEEK 13 PREDICTIONS! - YouTube
Premier League Betting Tips for Matchday 21 ... MAN UTD v EVERTON Premier League Preview - Duration: ... EVERY Goal R15 Serie A TIM - Duration: ... Premier league top goal scorer predictions Premier league golden boot predictions 2017/18 ARSENAL CHAMPIONS MANCHESTER CITY CHAMPIONS MAN CITY CHAMPIONS NEWCASTLE CHAMPIONS LIVERPOOL CHAMPIONS This is the first video in a new series I'll be producing where I share my Premier League Betting Tips. I am a Professional Gambler that makes a living betting on MMA. Find out more about me on my ... It's time to predict the WEEK 13 results in the 2019/20 Premier League! Click here to subscribe to the channel: https://goo.gl/tdmH25 Be sure to turn on the ... Natalie Rydstrom and Stuart from TipsterHQ.com deliver their best bets across the 10 Premier League matches in Week 13. Click on the link to read the article...
