The Eagles should win the upcoming game this week against the winless Kansas City Chiefs but it isn’t a surety for a number of reasons. Chiefs head coach Todd Haley was the Cardinals offensive coordinator who engineered Arizona’s victory on the Birds in the NFC Championship game.
He utilized quick crossing routes and flea flickers to build a big lead against the Eagles in the first quarter. With the success that the Saints had attacking the linebackers in the underneath zones this past week, the Chiefs are sure to have a similar attack.
Let me be clear about the fact that the Chiefs are a horrible football team and the Eagles should win this game easily, but they’d better come ready to play.
The Eagles defense needs to look a lot more like it did in the game against the Carolina Panthers than it did against the Saints. All of the pass coverage must clamp down on the short pass and take away the short passing game.
They’ve got to tackle better and get more pressure on the Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassell than they were able to get on Drew Brees.
Haley has a good understanding of the Eagles blitz scheme. He knows how to pick up the Eagles blitzes but of course he won’t have Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin to execute his plan.
Cassell is not a great athlete but he is a very smart quarterback and will be ready for the Birds blitz package. The Eagles secondary will have to contend with wide recevier Dwaye Bowe, who does have the ability to outmuscle defenders for the ball.
Still the Eagles had better come ready to play.
The special teams and the offense will also have to play better. The special teams will have to contribute better field position.
It will mean avoiding making mistakes like trying to return punts out of the end zone and getting penalties on every other play.
The offense will need to put more than 20 points on the board. The Chiefs don’t have a good defense but the Birds offense must make that seen on the scoreboard.
They need to score early to destroy any hope by the Chiefs have of getting their first win. I’d like to see them pound the nail into the casket in the first half to prevent any drama.
