In wake of Bird bloopers, expect Giants to get tricky
PHILADELPHIA >> One thing the Eagles absolutely, positively can expect to see from the New York Giants Monday is a trick play.
Maybe even a couple of them.
The “we bite on all gadget plays” sign has been hanging over the Eagles for almost a month now, the opposition counting the days until it gets a chance to ring up a score.
Three straight games of giving up touchdowns on unconventional plays will do that. It also will put you on the highlight reels of all those teams.
Let’s review the trickery:
• Wide receiver option pass: Tom Brady to Julian Edelman to Phillip Dorsett – touchdown, Patriots.
• Flea flicker: Russell Wilson to Chris Carson to Malik Turner – touchdown, Seahawks.
• Swinging gate: Field goal unit, muddle-huddle, shift, punter Matt Haack to kicker Jason Sanders – touchdown, Dolphins.
The Eagles haven’t allowed back-to-back-toback gadget touchdowns in at least 27 years. Maybe never because former Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil is sharp as a tack and all he can do is shake his head at the hat trick.
“I’ve never seen it,” Vermeil said. “I’ve never seen it. When we played a team that we thought was probably a little better than us, if we had to find a way to score in an unusual situation, third down and six inches, instead of going for it maybe you throw a play-action pass and hit a big one. It’s good scheming. We gave the Eagles, and they earned the accolades, the play in the Super Bowl, PhillyPhilly.”
No question that at least part of the influx of gashing the Birds with trick plays is Philly-Philly payback. CBS television analyst Tony Romo called the Patriots’ trick play moments before it happened, explaining to his audience that it was the spot for a “Patriots kind of play.” Even if the Eagles had monitored the TV, it would have been cheating to signal the information to the sideline. Bill Belichick finally got his revenge. I suppose he was tired of watching those Super Bowl LII replays.
Why the Eagles were clueless against the Seahawks is another matter, because Wilson caught a scoring pass from receiver Doug Baldwin the last time the teams played. You’d think somebody would have reviewed the film.
The Dolphins’ score could be easily blamed on Eagles defender Josh Sweat, because he broke away from Sanders, who was running the short pass route when Haack, who took the snap, rolled to his left. It still was embarrassing.
By the way, Doug Pederson knows he should have called time when the Dolphins shifted into that most unconventional formation, with the center, not the long snapper, on the field. But he is so stubborn he’ll go to his grave saying it wasn’t necessary. If you want to ruin his day, ask him if the Eagles have taken measures to end that streak.
“It’s something that obviously we address,” Pederson said. “We work on them in practice. We try to put our defense, expose them, our special teams units, and even offensively we work a few in each and every week to try to have some available each game. You never know when they’re going to come. You’ve just got to be prepared with your awareness and recognition. All that and try to eliminate or at least minimize those types of plays.”
Three weeks of weird touchdowns in a row is too much for veterans like Brandon Graham to comprehend. No Eagle is more prepared, more detail oriented than Graham, who openly passes the information to teammates.
Three straight weeks of breakdowns or busts is the story of the season for the Eagles (5-7), who have lost three straight games with four to go.
“That’s what’s been killing us, the little things,” Graham said. “And that’s what we talk about. I think everybody’s awakened. Now we’ve got to make sure we just stay focused on doing our job. Some of the stuff we’ve been over. But I know in that moment sometimes the moment can be a bit much at that time. As soon as they did it last week, we all adjusted to it well. But you’ve got to stay with your guy. We’ve just got to be disciplined. We’ve got to be better on those plays.”
The Giants (2-10) fit Vermeil’s gadget play profile of a team that has nothing to lose, just as the Dolphins (3-10) did last week.
The same thing with the Washington Redskins (3-10), next week’s supposedly inferior opponent at FedEx Field.
What should worry the Eagles is they’re telegraphing what they do both in terms of formation and personnel. Trick plays rely on players doing what the opposition knows they’re going to do, not just execution.
The general chaos of the Eagles during the swinging gate in Miami was something the special teams coach had seen through the weeks.
Creativity aside, the bottom line is a team that’s not playing well is giving up embarrassing scoring plays.
“You’re a good football team when you can play poorly and win,” Vermeil said while breaking down the Eagles’ losing streak.
“New England played poorly and won. Seattle played poorly and won. Right now, we, the Eagles, are not good enough to not play well and win – regardless of who we play right now.”