The defense was decent, and again, nothing special. Brodrick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, and even Trevor Laws all looked very good tonight. They, at the very worst, created a stalemate on the line and didn't allow much room for Maurice Jones-Drew. Patterson had a sack,
Trent Cole was very fast off the edge and created a lot of problems for the Jaguars. He didn't spare his former teammate Tra Thomas any of his moves, and was constantly in David Garrard's face throughout the course of the game.
Sheldon Brown didn't play, so Ellis Hobbs got the start. He was flying all around the field making plays in the passing and running game. He was able to shed any blocking receiver and made very nice plays all night long.
For anyone who watched the game, to say Asante Samuel had a good night would be an understatement. He hit, and he hit hard. At one point he hit a Jaguars receiver so hard that he knocked him out cold for a couple minutes. He'll probably be getting a fine because he connected with his head, but it was still a great hit and a great thing to see from Samuel.
Not surprisingly, he was also able to come up with a pick tonight as he broke on Torry Holt's pattern even before Holt did and snatched Garrard's pass right out of the air. He nearly had a second interception, but it skipped into him as he dived for it. Overall, he and Hobbs were very good in coverage, and incredibly physical in run support.
Hanson had a decent night as well, but allowed a touchdown because he was playing with outside leverage, which of course allowed to quick pop to the receiver. The play, however, was not a touchdown as the receiver never had possession and Quintin Mikell tore the ball from his hands, but no challenge means it was a touchdown…technically.
So why was the defense only "decent" when the defensive line and the secondary played so well? Quite obviously, it's the linebackers. While they weren't terrible, they certainly weren't very good.
Akeem Jordan was by far the best of the bunch tonight as Chris Gocong wasn't heard from, and Joe Mays looked lost again tonight. He's no longer playing with that reckless abandon that made him so much fun to watch last year, but instead he's locking himself up mentally and it's leading to some really poor outings for the second-year linebacker.
Moise Fukou played well, but it was mainly against backups. I'd love to see him get some time against starters, but the only way to see that now would be to throw him in during the regular season. That's not something I envision the Eagles trying at this point, barring a complete Joe Mays meltdown.
