Are The Small Eagles Big Enough To Deal With The NFC East?
Eagles, General News, News Sunday, April 25th, 2010
When we last saw the Eagles, the Cowboys were running for over two hundred yards and their big and physical receivers were having their way with the Eagles small and passive secondary.  
Their offensive line was getting manhandled and unable to block the Dallas front seven but we won’t deal with that in this article.
Although the Eagles drafted some good football players and improved their pass rush, they didn’t do anything to get better against the run or add size and aggressiveness in their secondary to deal with the division’s big receivers.
The Eagles plan for winning football games is fairly simple.  They expect to get ahead of their opponents by having Kevin Kolb throw the football to what is an outstanding set of weapons, which will force their opponents to throw the football.
Once they get the lead, they’re going to rely on Pro Bowl defensive end Trent Cole, newly drafted rookie defensive end Brandon Graham and the rest of their speedy defense to hold that lead with a feverish pass rush.
This isn’t anything new for the Birds. ¬†It’s similar to the mentality of the Indianapolis Colts which means Kolb has to be great and his receivers have to be great game and game out for this strategy to work.¬†
The Eagles drafted safety Nate Allen to their secondary but he’s not going to intimidate anybody coming across the middle. He’s regarded as a good pass coverage safety but he’s not much of a hitter.
The corner they drafted Trevard Lindley is supposed to be a good cover guy but not much of a tackler. 
I know that Stewart Bradley is returning to the line up and they traded for Ernie Sims but I’m concerned that they don’t matchup well in the division against the Dallas Cowboys strong running game and big receivers.
The same is true with the way they matchup against the New York Giants.  Even the Skins may cause problems because of their size advantage.
If these teams can put the ball on the ground and control the football by throwing to their big receivers, I see trouble ahead for the Birds in the division.
Don’t get me wrong, the Eagles have a good football team and I think Kolb will have success while stepping into an ideal situation, but the Eagles are a small football team.
The defensive line is small, their linebackers are small and their secondary is small.  The Cowboys, Giants and Redskins are going to run the football against the Birds and throw the ball to their big receivers. 
What cornerbacks or safeties do the Eagles have to deal with trio of 6’3″ receivers Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Dez Bryant in Dallas? ¬†What about New York’s 6’2″ Hakeem Nicks or 6’6″ Ramses Barden? ¬†Even the Redskins unaccomplished group of wideouts, 6’4″ Malcolm Kelly and 6’2″ DevinThomas could cause problems because of the matchups?
Who knows the Birds may jump ahead in the football games and nullify the size disadvantage, but we saw last year in the final two games against the Cowboys that there is a size problem and it hasn’t gone away.
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Posted by GarryCobb
on Apr 25 2010. Filed under Eagles, General News, News.
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PM – GF – I was just back looking at the stats of last year to look up something about big running backs killing us, and again, not seeing where this issue of ‘the problem’ is. The Eagles did a very decent job against the run last year, in 16 games 1 back (Gore SF 107yds) got over 100 until playoffs. We did real well against jacobs. The big issue seems to be lack of pass rush from our DTs – but I think that is more of a scheme thing then a player thing (they rotate out). I think the biggest issue has been Abrami not becoming what they hoped he would be, a second D end to draw attention from Cole – I don’t know anything about Segrest so no thoughts on that
the eagles allowed (8) out of (16) regular season teams to run over 100 yards last season, and the debacle of the playoff game (198 rushing yards) is the last memory many of us have. I know that the injury to Bradley and the rotating MLB’s had a big effect on this performance, but by NFL standards the eagles are smaller then average along the DL front (I do not have the NFL average so if you have info the contrary I may have to eat crow) .
I agree with what Big Red said this past weekend, whereas a strong pass rush from the DL will lead to better play from all other defensive positions. If you do not need to rely on a blitzing scheme to get pressure your whole defense can defend better.
Segrest do a really poor job with the special teams after Harabaugh left, and then had the DB’s and last year moved to DL. Comments that I have heard ex-players make lead me to believe he is a nice guy but not a very good position coach. We need a great DL position coach i we plan on using speed to overtake the large OL’s in the NFC East.
Yeah – but greenfan – some of those over 100 games included QB scrambles etc. They were overall 9th in the league against the run – you can break down the stats how you like. And I agree – what happened in Dallas was a disaster – both games, but in some way having a horrid offense those two games really made it tough on the eagles –
as for the size data – I don’t have that either – I don’t know the average of any teams starting LBs or DLs or what is included – but 6’4 265 MLBs that can run 4.43 40s dont grow on trees and you usually have to decide which is more important for your scheme, speed or size (yes, both are ideal) – hell, if I were two inches taller, 40 pounds heavier, and could run the 40 1.5 seconds faster – OK 2.5 – OK 3.5 seconds faster – I’d play too!
So bottom line – I guess I agree on all your points – They brought in an ace ST and DB coach – maybe it will rub off on Segrest or McDermett can spend more time working wiht him>
yup, I really like the upgrades in the ST & DB coaches, and hopefully it will raise the level of everyones performance