Eagles fan expectations for 2018 season about to be tested by Carolina

It’s a tap-dance for the true Eagles fan right now…despite the talent we know exists on this roster, we are aware of the question-marks at certain positions which have been exposed by either free-agent defection, injury or age. I get the feeling we are kinda making things up as we go along. At 3-3 maybe we are exactly where we deserve to be unless we really are better than our current record says we are.

The Carolina Panthers are a good team but not a great team. They come into the Linc this Sunday on a mission to add extreme doubt to the Eagles’ claim that things are coming together in Philly.

It will be a contrast of running game philosophies.

There are two schools of thought in the NFL regarding the run game—one says you need to run the ball to win, the other says you need to be winning the game in order to run the ball.

I’m not smart enough to know the difference. I do know that quite often Doug and the Eagles will go away from the running game if the score is extremely close or the opponent has a lead.

What the Panthers do is just a bit different. They will stick with the run even when it doesn’t seem overly productive, or when they fall behind in the score. Their idea is over the course of 60 minutes they will wear you down with their run game. They will pound you into a state of fatigue and ultimate submission causing mistakes in other areas, like play-action pass coverage. They will also eat up tons of clock, keeping Wentz and Ertz and Jeffery on the sidelines a-wishin’ and a-hopin’.

The Panthers are old-school offense, especially with Norv Turner now as their OC. Turner has apparently decided to embrace a running game as the main emphasis of his attack strategy. Before him, Mike Shula was trying to coordinate a “balanced offense” and somewhat reinvent Cam Newton as a classic pocket passer. Turner, to his credit at age 66, saw that Shula’s plan was flawed.

I thought Norv would have retired by now. He has coached 32 seasons in the NFL, including 15 seasons as a head coach and 11 as an offensive coordinator. As offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys (1991-93), he helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXVII and XXVIII. During his head coaching career, Turner won four division titles, adding three more division crowns and seven additional playoff berths as an assistant.

Turner most recently served as the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-16. In 2015, Turner’s offense ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing as Adrian Peterson led the NFL in rushing (1,485 yards) and the Vikings finished with an 11-5 record and the NFC North title.

Norv could never be described as “pass-happy” in his coaching career.

But if he thought he had a high “passing IQ” in a QB, he would not hesitate to go away from the run just a little.

In 2014, Turner led Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings to the best season for a rookie quarterback in team history. Bridgewater was thrust into the starting lineup after starting quarterback Matt Cassel suffered a season-ending foot injury in the third game of the season. Bridgewater set virtually every franchise rookie passing record and had the third-best completion percentage (64.6 percent) and the seventh-highest passer rating (85.2) in a season in NFL history by a rookie.

Turner has been a head coach three times, first with Washington (1994-2000) then with Oakland (2004-05) and San Diego (2007-12). In Washington, Turner posted four winning seasons, claiming the NFC East title in 1999 and advancing to the NFC Divisional Playoffs. He liked to run the ball in D.C.

In San Diego, he won three straight AFC West titles (2007-09) and finished second in the division the other three seasons, advancing to face New England in the 2007 AFC Championship game and posting a 56-40 record in regular season action. Norv was mixing run and pass beautifully back then.

Turner’s system has produced the NFL’s leading rusher on six different occasions: Emmitt Smith (1991-93), Ricky Williams (2002), LaDainian Tomlinson (2007) and Adrian Peterson (2015). With Cleveland in 2013, wide receiver Josh Gordon led the NFL with 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns on 87 catches in only 14 games, doubling his yardage output from the season before. Gordon joined Michael Irvin as wide receivers under Turner who led the NFL in receiving.

Since 1991 when Turner joined Dallas, he has had backs rush for 1,000 yards 16 times and boasted a 1,000-yard receiver 15 times. Turner’s offenses have produced a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver in the same season 10 times, and he has had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers on a team twice.

What Turner is doing is building an offense around the offensive line’s lead blocking and the running skills of RB C.J. Anderson, RB Christian McCaffrey – who leads the Panthers with 349 ground yards – and QB Cam Newton as a power running back.

Say what?

We’ve seen Cam Newton take off out of the pocket on broken plays before, but now Norv Turner has him running by design. At 6-5 and 245 pounds, Newton is every inch the prototype of a power runner. Norv threw out the notion that Cam had to evolve into a finesse pocket passer. He has turned back the clock and turned Newton loose—to the tune of 209 rushing yards and a team-high three rushing touchdowns so far in 2018.

“This year they’re doing a lot more with running Cam, the designed quarterback runs,” Eagles linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill said. “It’s almost like having two running backs out there at one time. No doubt, he’s a big guy and everything revolves around him.”

“If you don’t prepare for Cam Newton and his ability as a ballcarrier then you will have a rough day against him,” safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “They have designed runs. They’re running ‘power’ runs. He’s more of a power running back than half the running backs they have. He’s tough to get on the ground. At the same time, you can’t commit 1,000 guys to the run, because he can pick it up and throw it. They’ve got more-than-capable guys on the back end. So that’s what makes it a unique challenge to match up with these guys.”

“I can’t think of another quarterback in the league where they’re running ‘quarterback powers,’ so you really have to account for him as a true running back in their run game, which is why they’re in the top of the league in rushing. Also, to account for a guy like Cam who has the arm to make every throw on the field, to be able to stretch the field, and has the receivers to do it … it’s things that guys aren’t used to doing. So this week of preparation is going to be key for us. We won’t have to prepare for these types of things for the rest of the year.”

Used to be you just had to put a spy on Newton to prevent a great escape. Now the guy is calling designed plays with the objective of running through you and over you.

Get ready for an old-school test of your Eagles. Norv Turner is turning back the clock to a time when helmets were made of leather.
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