4. Make explosive gains on offense
It doesn't matter how it happens; it just has to happen.
The grind-it-out offense is wonderful and it leads to winning the time of possession battle – not as important from this perspective as some believe – and it leads to a "balanced" attack – also an overrated statistic – but what's really important is "chunk" plays. San Francisco had four plays of 30-plus yards on Sunday. Green Bay had two passing plays of 40-plus yards. Kansas City had a 60-yard touchdown play and a 27-yard touchdown run and three other plays of 20-plus yards. Tennessee had five plays of 20-plus yards.
The Eagles had a total of five passing plays during the entire season that gained 40-plus yards. Two of them went to DeSean Jackson in the opening-game win over Washington – the touchdown connections of 51 and 53 yards. Once he went down, the offense lacked explosiveness. Sanders is an explosive element out of the backfield. Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert are explosive. Jackson, of course. The Eagles need to find ways to gain more big plays on offense. They ranked 21st in the NFL with a 5.2-yard-per-play average in 2019, while both Kansas City (second, 6.3 yards) and San Francisco (fourth, 6.0) ranked among the top five in the league.
5. Play loose and be creative on offense
Didn't you just love the playcalling on Sunday. Handoffs to wide receivers. Direct snaps to running backs. Lots of motion and deception. Fun stuff. Speed is the theme here and it was obvious throughout all four teams that the coaches had that "loose" mentality on offense.
When the Eagles are whole, head coach Doug Pederson has demonstrated that kind of approach. If there is one thing the Eagles can add to the offense in the months ahead, it's more speed. Kansas City scares the bejeebers out of every defense. San Francisco is using ways to get wide receiver Deebo Samuel the football and he's dynamic with the ball in his hands.
The Eagles aren't far away here. Given the assets the Eagles have in the offseason – cap space and potentially 10 draft picks – you can expect the team to be on the hunt for playmakers that will give Pederson and his staff more flexibility.
6. Win the final minutes of the first half
The Chiefs scored 14 points in the second quarter on Sunday to take control of the game, including the touchdown run from quarterback Patrick Mahomes late to assume a lead they would not relinquish. San Francisco dominated with 20 points in the second quarter, including 10 points in the final two minutes of the half. Important stuff. No surprise, then, that Kansas City led the NFL with 12.2 points scored on average in the second quarter of games this season (including the playoffs), and San Francisco was fifth, averaging 9.2 points in the second quarter. The Eagles were 19th in the NFL, averaging 6.2 points in the second quarter of games, including only 4.0 points in the second quarter of home games. That needs to be much better moving forward.
There is more to consider – third-down efficiency on both sides of the ball, penalties, tackling, etc. – but some of the things that jumped out on Sunday are worth considering. Two teams remain in the battle to win Super Bowl LIV. The Eagles really weren't that far away in 2019, all things considered. But they have some gains to make in the next few months to put the team back in the deep playoff picture in 2020.
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January 21, 2020 at 05:12AM
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How far away are the Eagles? Some reminders from Sunday - PhiladelphiaEagles.com
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