When the Eagles have the ball, their offensive line must win the battle upfront and that means the Birds must block the Cowboys outstanding pass rushers.
Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters has to handle Demarcus Ware. He did a good job on him in the last game but he’s got to have another quality performance this time around as well.
Ware can take over the game if he’s not focused on for one play. Peters was injured for one series in the last game and came out for a few plays.
On one of those plays Eagles rookie wide out Jeremy Maclin got open deep and Donovan McNabb was going to hit him with a touchdown pass but Ware beat Todd Herremans around the corner and hit McNabb’s arm before he could throw the football.
Peters must be up to the task this week against Ware who will be coming off the corner on McNabb’s blindiside all day long. He’s got to do the job on pass plays but just as important, he should be able to handle Ware when the Eagles run that side.
It will be very important that the Birds stay balanced with their running game in order to stop the Cowboys pass rush from playing on the pass.
On the other side Winston Justice will battle Anthony Spencer. Spencer has only four sacks but Justice has to do a good job on him.
I want to see Eagles center Nick Cole give a lot of attention to helping right guard Max Jean-Gilles on Cowboys defensive tackle Jay Ratliff. Ratliff is not very big for a defensive tackle but thing he has is quickness and athleticism.
He’s a very good pass rusher for a defensive tackle as is evidenced by his six sacks.
Jean-Gilles has a tendency to stop his feet on pass plays which allows athletic and quick defensive tackles like Ratliff to beat him.
I want to see the Birds run the football and stop Ratliff from pass rushing without any concern about the run. Some quick hitters up the middle from Leonard Weaver will force Ratliff to play the run first and that will make Jean-Gilles’ job easier.
You can’t run an offense with a defensive tackle unblocked in the middle of the line, so I want to see the Birds give special attention to that Jean-Gilles vs. Ratliff matchup.
