A Coordinator's Notebook: Dave Fipp Takes Fall for Jake Elliott's Miss

Linebacker Duke Riley had a busy day on both offensive and special teams, find out what pleased DC Jim Schwartz, and more

A coordinator’s notebook from Tuesday…

Dave Fipp didn’t snap the ball, hold it, or even kick it, but the Eagles special team coordinator took the fall for Jake Elliott’s 53-yard field goal that came up short, just like the rest of the team in Sunday’s loss to Washington.

After Carson Wentz took a 13-yard sack, Fipp thought the officials were spotting the ball at the 38-yard line, which would have made the kick three yards longer than what it turned out being.

“Right away in my head I'm thinking that's a 56-yard field goal, that’s right on the edge of his range,” said Fipp. “That wind kind of turned, not that it was really strong, but just a little bit back into us going that way at that point in the game. It was, like right on the edge of that decision-making process with Coach (Doug Pederson). I think I jammed him up, to be honest with you.

“He's like, ‘No, it's on the 35.’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, go, go, go.’

“Those guys got out there late. Just started poorly by me. Those guys got out there late. They went to execute. I would say if you look closely at that play, if you look real close, it probably wasn't our best snap and hold. That all has an effect on the thing.”

A successful boot would have given the Eagles a 20-14 lead with just over five minutes to go in the third quarter.

“I'm actually really encouraged about Jake,” said Fipp. “He's hitting the ball as well as I've seen him hit it since I've been here. He's been steady. I think that play was less of him and more to do with the other circumstances starting with myself than anything.”

SIR DUKE

If it felt like Duke Riley rarely came off the field, well, that wouldn’t be too far off from being the case.

The linebacker played 81 snaps, with 57 coming on defense (81 percent) and 24 on special teams (73 percent). He was third on the team in defensive tackles with six.

“We track all that stuff,” said Fipp. “…He was the highest (in snap counts) for us. He did a good job. I mean, I think you got to look at all those situations individually. We've kind of always done that. How much a guy is playing on offense or defense, how much on special teams, how old is the guy, how much energy does he have in his tank. We'll just kind of monitor it based off of week-to-week I would say.”

TACKLING MACHINES

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was happy with the way his team tackled on Sunday, and they better bring their tackling shoes again on Sunday, especially in the run game because this weekend’s opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, ran the ball 40 times for 153 yards in their win over the Cowboys.

“We talk about the first-time live tackling,” said Schwartz. “For the most part, I thought we tackled pretty well in that game. We didn't miss often. If we did, we had a lot of guys there to clean it up. That sort of showed through in the run game. We lost one on a quarterback scramble for about 20. Those were sort of the plays.

“But as a group, I thought they did some good things. Again, that wasn't an easy opener as far as complexity of scheme and what the offense presents. It's going to be no different this week.”

Linebacker Nate Gerry led the way with 10 tackles followed by safety Rodney McLeod with eight.

RED-ZONE WOES

Washington did a good job inside the Eagles’ red zone, converting three of their four trips there into touchdowns, yet the longest scoring drive for the Football Team was just 48 yards.

“We have traditionally been a good red-zone defense,” said Schwartz. “But just because we have over the last four years doesn't mean that's where we are right now. We have some work to do. That's always been a big goal for us, holding teams to field goal attempts in the red zone. If we can do a better job of that, that will take us a long way this year.”

The Eagles also need to do a better job forcing turnovers. They didn’t get a single one on Sunday and, because of Carson Wentz’s two interceptions and one lost fumble, Philadelphia is already in a minus-3 holes in turnover differential.

Not good.

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