The patience of Andy Reid, Marty Mornhinweg and Donovan McNabb could be tested this week when the Eagles battle Dallas.
I don’t think the Cowboys believe they can cover the Eagles wide receivers, so they’ll be forced to make some type of adjustment, such as playing a lot of zone, blitzing frequently or both.
The Raiders did both, so the Eagles shouldn’t be surprised if the Cowboys copy that game plan.
We all know the Birds can score fast, but their challenge is going to be making the adjustments when opponents take away the big play.
You heard and seen the stats; 70% of their twenty touchdown drives have been four plays or less. 35% of those twenty touchdown drives have lasted only one of two plays.
The Eagles have no problem scoring quickly but they did run into difficulties in Oakland when the Raiders took away the deep throw. The Eagles continued to throw deep with five and seven step drops despite the Raiders blitzing them and playing zones behind it.
I think the Birds are going to have to pair their running attack and short passing game to move the ball against the Cowboys. I expect Wade Phillips to try to take away the big play.
What this means is the Eagles should give the ball to Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy and Leonard Weaver, and let them attack the Cowboys run defense.
Their safeties will be lined up deep and out of position to support their defensive front.
They should also be able to throw short to these guys coming out of the backfield as well as to tight end Brent Celek.
If they take advantage of what the Cowboys’ defense gives them, then over time opportunities will open up for them to go deep, but they can’t force things.
