Pederson thinks second guessing is a bit ‘crazy’
Pederson says second-guessing Eagles’ in-game decisions is ‘crazy’
PHILADELPHIA >> There were 69,696 in Lincoln Financial Field Sunday, each having spent hundreds of dollars for tickets and parking and overcoats, most leaving disappointed after the Eagles’ 21-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers. How did it happen? Why didn’t the Eagles run the ball later in the game?
Why wasn’t there more blitzing of Cam Newton, who concocted three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, four if a two-point conversion were included? Don’t ask.
At least that was Doug Pederson’s message Monday, in a potentially image-redesigning press conference where he’d been presented to answer just such questions.
“Now you’re getting into game plan stuff,” Pederson said, technically to the assembled press, but indirectly to all critics. “You’re getting into scheme. You guys aren’t in there watching the tape like we are for 18 hours a day and putting game plans together. It’s easy to sit in a press box and say, ‘They should run the ball.’ Come down and stand on the sideline with me and make decisions. ‘I should run it here, I should pass it here, let’s throw a screen here, let’s get the quarterback out of the pocket right here. No, there’s 15 seconds left on the clock.’
“Until you’re down there with me on the sideline making in-game decisions, then I guess you can ask all you want.”
Asked, not answered. Indeed, Pederson characterized such football chit-chat as insane.
“Is it going to change the outcome of the game?” he said, of his late-game strategies. “I don’t know. You can blitz all you want, but you still have to cover down. We’re sitting here again. I mean, you’re asking me, ‘Should I run the ball more? Should we blitz more?’ What do you want me to do? You know what I’m saying? It’s crazy.”
So continued Monday a two-day transformation of Pederson, author of the autobiographical best-seller “Fearless” into a coach determined to retreat from pressure. A day after declaring that the heat was off his Eagles after falling to 3-4, Pederson again was content to run for that safe zone.
“I think what you have to understand is that I was asked a question about the locker room, and how I addressed the football team, and part of that was just saying that, ‘Listen, no one gives us a rat’s (chance) of winning or losing. They’ve kind of written us off, so to speak.’ From that standpoint, yeah, the pressure should be off. We shouldn’t have any pressure going into football games.”
Any games? Even of the NFL variety?
“Don’t misunderstand, there’s pressure with every football game,” Pederson said. “Pressure to win, there is all of that. Sometimes players, coaches and teams put pressure on themselves when they don’t have to, to make a play.”
Though Pederson’s dismissal of questioning was out of the Rich Kotite “That’s bizarrrrrre” dayafter script, it was with a purpose. A legitimate approach or not, he believes that lessening the tension could yield improved results. More, Pederson is certain the Eagles have enough time to do that.
“The great thing about where we are is that we still control our division,” he said. “We still have games in our division ahead of us. We have nine games left. So there’s a lot of ball, a lot of football. A lot of things can happen.
“We have a break (a bye week) coming up after an important game this week. Hopefully we get some guys healthy (for the) second half of the season. Then we’ll see where we’re at.”
Sunday, the Eagles were in a good position to win, up 17-0, with just over 10 minutes to play. But their offense stalled and their defense tumbled.
“We still put pressure on Cam,” Pederson said. “Can we maybe tackle a little bit better in the back end? I think sometimes we allowed too many yards after contact. I think there’s some of that involved. I think guys have to understand situations, where we are in the game, the timing of it, and the score. There are a lot of things.”
Among those were that the Eagles rushed for just
58 yards.
“Let me ask you to block
700-pound men sometimes,” Pederson challenged one questioner. “It’s not because of lack of effort. It’s not because of scheme. Listen, they get paid over there. When it breaks down, it breaks down. You run the ball on a first-and-10, and you lose two, you’re second-and-12. Next thing you know, you go a little RPO-pass or a play-action pass, you get sacked, you’re third-and-18.
“Those are all breakdowns that we need to correct and we need to fix”
Pederson and his staff will endeavor to do that, in
18-hour shifts if necessary, before a 9:30 game Sunday morning against Jacksonville in London.
“You just have to keep talking and you’ve got to keep fighting,” Pederson said. “You’ve got to keep battling through it, man. Sometimes human nature is going to say we have to do more when less is better. Maybe that’s where we’re at. Maybe we’ve got to scale back just a little bit. I’m just brainstorming here.
“Maybe offensively we scale back the amount of plays we have in. Maybe I scale back in practice. I’ll do whatever I can do to keep the guys fresh and energized and jazzed going into games.
“Those are all things I have to assess in the next couple of days.”
Just don’t go crazy on him as he tries to figure it all out.