I don't feel good about the Eagles right now, for the entire season, but I do feel good about them in this game. Their defense is shakey right now but Green Bay's offense which will be reluctantly starting two rookies at skill positions, is even shakier.
The Eagles linebacking especially on the strongside or tight end side isn't stable because 2nd year man Chris Gocong is learning on the job. He's not good at coming up in space and making open field tackles. He's looked good when reading the blocking schemes and attacking running plays, but the passing game has been a different story.
I know the Pack is going to throw the ball to their backs on the wide routes, where the running back will just run straight toward the sideline and catch the ball behind the line of scrimmage. In zone coverage, Gocong deepens on his drop, then when he sees the pass, he comes up but doesn't break down by lowering his center of gravity. The ball carrier has just given him a move and the young backer hasn't been able to get himself under control, so he's missed the tackle. Usually they have to block the OLB. Despite all of these problems in pass coverage, Gocong looks strong against the run. The Packers are going to run the ball quite a bit.
The strong side coverage and run support has been problematic with strong safety Sean Considine because of his tackling. He knows what he's doing and is always in good position, but he misses too many tackles. If you throw the ball to a tight end or running back on the strongside of the formation, you can be fairly sure that it's going to be Gocong or Considine who will be responsible for tackling them.
I don't know if the Packers are prepared to take advantage of it. Rookie running back Brandon Jackson looks like he's going to be the starter, despite having suffered a concussion on August the 26th. Head coach Mike McCarthy said he wants him to be able to carry the ball, 20 to 25 times. That a lot of carries for a guy who suffered a concussion a couple of weeks ago. You can see by that statement the Pack plans on running the ball in a conservative attack against the Eagles.
The guy who they wanted to start as their number one running back, Vernand Morency, may not be able to go because of a knee injury. Many times when a player, especially a running back is having knee problems early in the season, a team will decide to wait on bringing him back because they don't want him to miss the entire season.
Starting split end Greg Jennings, injured his hamstring on Thursday's practice and was seen walking with a limp on Friday at the workout. The Pack may have to start another rookie, James Jones, at their split end position. He also backs up Donald Driver, who starts at the Pack's flanker position. I don't feel confident that this kid could have mastered both of Green Bay's starting wide receiver positions before his first pro game. The kid is going to make some mistakes, and that would mean, Brett Favre being caught without an option in a blitz situation.
The Eagles should try to disguise their coverages and change their look just before the snap to confuse this kid. Favre will be able to make the adjustments but I doubt that Jones will be able to do likewise.
To Be Updated
