The Eagles lost their first game of the season. And to break it down, Jeff Mclane joined The Anthony Gargano Show. What went wrong? How much is on Jonathan Gannon? Jeff McLane discussed that and more. Here is some of what he had to say.
On Jonathan Gannon’s Scheme vs Washington
“They only averaged 3.1 yards per rush. And Scott Turner was content to grind it out and play ball control. And the Eagles kind of played a little bit into their trap. They didn’t counter… This is going to be the blueprint for teams, especially lesser teams against the Eagles. To keep Hurts and the offense off the field… This wasn’t an especially great run offense coming in. They are solid. It didn’t take a genius to predict that this would be the way they’d try to beat the Eagles…
In terms of the scheme, at some point when they are getting to the short 3rd downs you do have to blitz a little more. You have to do something to mix it up. And Gannon typically eers on the side of caution and doesn’t do that enough… The play disparity and the time of possession disparity were so egregious that something needed to change in terms of the scheme.”
On It Being a Playcalling Issue More Than a Scheme Issue
“It’s not as much the scheme as the playcalling. When Vic Fangio runs this scheme, it looks a little different, because the playcalling is better. And Gannon admits this himself, makes some bad plays, and puts stress on these guys. I felt like having CJ against Terry McLaurin. CJ played the slot for 3 years with the Saints. But he hasn’t played it this year. So all of a sudden you are facing one of the best WRs in the NFL in a position you haven’t played all year. Guess who is going to win that matchup?
That is on Jonathan. So to me, the bigger issue with Gannon is playcalling… When you have suspect Qbs, that is when you unload the blitz packages. And this is a guy where I think you needed more of that.”
Listen to the full interview with Jeff McLane below…