Week 10 Preview: Philadelphia Eagles (3-6) at Denver Broncos (5-4)

I tried to tell ya. I tried my best to explain to you all that this team Is. Not. Good. Granted, the Eagles played a lot better last week then even my most hopeful thoughts anticipated.

 

The offense looked good. A heavy emphasis on the running game with a young quarterback, young receivers, and a young play-caller makes sense, especially when the “strength” of your offense is the offensive line. It feels good to be right about something.

 

Now, if only the Eagles defensive coordinator had any clue on God’s green Earth about what the heck he was doing. Jonathan Gannon, your day of reckoning has come. If you like Gannon, you should probably stop reading here. Also, you should probably seek medical attention.

 

The Denver Broncos somehow have a winning record. I’m fully convinced they used some wizard mind tricks to take down the Dallas Cowboys last week. Before two garbage time touchdowns from Dallas, the Broncos found themselves up 30 to nothing in that game. A team quarterbacked by Teddy Bridgewater. Beating a 6-1 team 30 to nothing. My mind refuses to believe it.

 

Outside of Denver’s win against Dallas, which is a great win I’ll admit, their other four wins are…less than convincing. Denver’s other victories consist of the Jaguars, Jets, Giants, and Washington. Those four teams are some of the worst the sport has to offer. Meanwhile, their four losses are against the Ravens, Steelers, Raiders, and Browns. In other words, this team was the most predictable team in the NFL until a week ago.

 

Completely irrelevant to this blog, but I’ll never miss a chance to talk down on the Cowboys. Can we talk about how embarrassing it is for “Cowboys Nation,” that every week their stadium is filled with the opposing team’s fans? This is Jerry Jones’ fault, no doubt, as ticket prices are astronomical. Even still, this looks like a Broncos home game. The Linc will never look like this.

 

Eagles Offense vs. Broncos Defense

 

It’s pretty crazy that running the ball consistently against the worst rushing defense in the league actually works. As much as Nick Sirianni tried his best to avoid the run game on the Eagles first two possessions, the fans eventually bulleid him into running the ball. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

 

The Eagles should be able to stick with the run, even though Denver has a stingy ground defense. While the Broncos are tenth in total rushing yards allowed this season, they rank 14th in rush yards allowed per attempt, which leads me to believe that teams don’t run as much as they could against the Broncos. Considering this Broncos defense is without their two best defensive linemen from the start of the season, Bradley Chubb and Von Miller, the Birds should be able to move the ball.

 

If I’m Nick Sirianni (I’m not), I’d keep riding the hot hand in this offense. For the past two weeks, that has been Jordan Howard along with the rest of the running game. There’s a reason Howard was officially signed to the active roster this week. Use him.

 

As for the Birds passing game, it’s a real Jekyll and Hyde situation. Jalen Hurts only attempted 17 passes last Sunday, and yet he still missed two wide open touchdowns. His lack of accuracy is becoming maddening and will be the reason he’s not the long-term solution at quarterback. On the flip side, he made some great plays with his legs that if he hadn’t made them, the Eagles wouldn’t have even sniffed a tie game in the fourth quarter like they did.

 

The only receiver that Hurts seems to always be on the same page with is rookie wide receiver Devonta Smith. Smitty, as the cool kids are saying, is becoming a fan favorite for so many reasons. He has a very likable personality and has a soft-spokenness about him while also giving off huge “unintentionally funny” vibes.

 

 

It also helps that Smith is really, really good at football.

 

 

Now, for the complete opposite end of the Eagles wide receiver spectrum. As good as the 2021 first round pick has been, the 2020 first round pick has been just as good at being bad. On Sunday, Jalen Reagor had one catch for negative six yards. One catch. -6 yards. It was his only target of the game.

 

There have been 75 receivers in the NFL this season that have gotten 25 or more passes thrown in their direction. In terms of yards per route run, Reagor ranks dead last out of those 75 receivers (according to Brandon Deeg). I’m here to confirm: that is bad. But hey, at least he made some really cool one-handed catches in training camp!

 

 

The Broncos pass defense is certainly above average, as they rank ninth in yards allowed per pass attempt. Rookie cornerback Pat Surtain II has been superb through the first half of his rookie year, he will be a staple of their defense for years to come. Another staple in Denver’s secondary is safety Justin Simmons, who is one of the most underrated players the NFL has to offer. However, there is a familiar face in the Broncos secondary that I think the Eagles could be able to take advantage of.

 

 

Eagles Defense vs. Broncos Offense

 

I will begin voicing my frustration in a series of tweets. Please hold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, why hasn’t Jonathan Gannon been fired yet? There’s not even a sarcastic or witty joke behind this, I’m seriously wondering why he is still the defensive coordinator of an NFL team.

 

The lack of competence absolutely floors me. I cannot believe that this quack has watched opposing teams go up and down the field at will and continue to change absolutely nothing. If an opposing team has a competent offensive game plan along with a competent quarterback, this defense is going to be shredded to pieces.

 

I don’t understand Gannon’s thought process or defensive philosophies. There’s bend but don’t break, and then there’s what Gannon’s doing. His idea is to not allow any big plays and to essentially just let teams do whatever they want within ten yards of the line of scrimmage. He’s banking on the opposing offense eventually slipping up.

 

Well, bad news for you BUCKO, every quarterback and offensive coordinator with an IQ over 70 has been able to carve your defense up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Justin Herbert was 16-for-16 against zone coverage. He completed every single pass when the Eagles lined up in zone coverage. Every. Single. Pass.

 

Do you know how hard that is to do in high school, heck, even Pop Warner, much less the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE?!

 

The basic stats in this case don’t even tell the full story of how bad it is. The Eagles have allowed the eighth most rushing yards and 11th most total yards in the league, which is bad, but no reason for me to be throwing my arms in the air. Once you look deeper, however, you realize your eyes do not deceive you.

 

If you’ve been watching an Eagles loss this year, there has probably been a time where you’ve thought to yourself, “Man, the other team has had the ball for what feels like the whole game!” I’m here to tell you that you’ve been right. The Eagles opponents have the second highest time of possession percentage in the NFL. They have been on the field for 54.78% of the game on average. Do you know how high of a percentage that is to AVERAGE?

 

Another stat that can explain just how truly awful Gannon’s philosophy is, is the punt stat. There have been not one, but TWO different instances this season where the opposing team hasn’t even attempted a punt, one such instance being last week. Let’s hammer home how rare this is.

 

The NFL hadn’t seen a game where neither team attempted a punt until 1992. Since then, there have been just four total games in 29 years that have featured no punts by either team. One of those games was this year when the Chiefs came to Philly. So yeah, having multiple games in a season where the other team doesn’t even attempt a punt is one of the most rare, and embarrassing, feats to happen against your team.

 

Gannon is embarrassing himself, but most of all he’s embarrassing his players and his team. His game plan is an absolute disgrace and he deserves every ounce of blame he’s gotten. What a friggin’ joke. Gannon cannot be fired soon enough.

 

The Broncos offense isn’t great, but I’m sure they’ll look fantastic against this defense. Teddy Bridgewater is a quarterback that I’d consider to be on the fringe of competency, so if he gets rolling, the Eagles won’t be able to stop him.

 

It also doesn’t help the Birds that Bridgewater has a trio of good receivers to throw to in Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and tight end Noah Fant. The Broncos also have a two-headed monster of mediocrity with Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams, who are decent backs, but aren’t anything special.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Broncos scored 40+ points, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if they don’t break 20 points. Denver ranks 22nd in scoring, averaging just 20.8 points per game. There have been four games this season where the Broncos have failed to reach that 20 point threshold. However, coming off of their best offensive output of the season, as well as their tendency to beat up on bad defenses, that leads me to believe they won’t have trouble putting points on the board.

 

My Prediction

 

I have a feeling this game is going to be ugly. It’s going to be one of those grind it out, low scoring, long possessions for each team kind of game. I expect the Broncos to be able to put points on the board more than the Eagles.

 

The Eagles defense offers little to no resistance, and that’s putting it nicely compared to what I said above. The Broncos defense is good enough to hold the Eagles to fewer points, despite the fact that the Eagles have scored 68 points over their last two games.

 

I told myself I wasn’t going to let how bad this team is affect my mental state. Then Jonathan Gannon was hired. The incompetence of this defense is enough to make you (mostly myself) want to drive your head straight into a piece of drywall.

 

For that reason, the Broncos win 20-15. On the bright side, it’s going to be an elite uniform matchup! The Eagles are wearing black pants with the white jerseys for the first time in franchise history, at least to my recollection. At least they’ll be losing in style this week.

 

 

 

 

If I Were A Betting Man

Under 45.5. Like I said, this game feels ugly.

 

Broadcast Information

Time: 4:25 P.M. EDT

TV: CBS (Greg Gumbel, Adam Archuleta and A.J. Ross.)

Radio: 94.1 WIP

Stream: NFL Game Pass

 

Special shoutout to a Philly legend on retirement. I grew up with Jim Gardner, and I imagine many of you did as well. Hit the ABC music.

 

 

By Matt Szczypiorski | November 14, 2021
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,