McDermott Says His Defense Must Show Up Ready To Play At The Start

Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott didn’t have a lot of complicated solutions for the Eagles run defense problems.  He simply said the boys have to show up ready to play on the first play of the game until the last one, as well as get off blocks quicker and tackle better.

He felt they got pushed around by the Redskins and he was right. McDermott explained that Redskins running back Ryan Torain got up under Eagles safety Quintin Mikell, when he ran him over on the goalline.  On that same play, Redskins fullback, Mike Sellers flattened linebacker Akeem Jordan.  Torain went into the endzone standing up.

Unfortunately on that play both Mikell and Jordan didn’t look like they belonged in the NFL.  It showed they weren’t ready to play at the start of that football game.

Mikell said he didn’t think the Birds defense had played poorly against the Redskins.  He said they didn’t get the job done on a few plays.  The veteran safety said he thought the media was overreacting to their loss to the Skins.

I disagree with him and I’m concerned about this football team.  Mikell is supposed to be a leader, but he’s saying the defense played well despite showing up late for the game, then getting the ball run down their throats in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.   They’ve got an awfully tough road ahead if they can’t stop the run.

Defensive end Darryl Tapp thought the defense got so caught up into Donovan McNabb’s return that they were trying too hard to make plays.  He feels it’s why they made mistakes in their assignments.

I talked to an NFL source who looked closely at the coaches video tape of the game and he thought the Birds made a ton of mistakes versus the Washington running game.

Weakside linebacker Ernie Sims thinks they need to play harder and give better effort.  The Birds are seeing quite a few misdirection runs this year and I think the guy that they’re aimed at, is Sims.  The former Detroit Lions is prone for biting on play-action pass fakes.

Skins tight end Fred Davis beat him deep last Sunday on a play action fake.

Middle linebacker Stewart Bradley said he had a “brain cramp” or two and we all know that one of them occurred on the touchdown pass to Chris Cooley.

The Eagles will be starting Moise Fokou at the strongside linebacker this Sunday in San Francisco as a way of getting bigger and more physical.  I think Fokou is going to be physical with the Niners, but is he going to play smart football.  If he will keep the mistakes and penalties to a minimum, then I say let the young fella play.

On the other hand, if playing Fokou means a couple of stupid and costly roughing or holding penalties, I say leave him on the bench.  I think the main reason they want to get him on the field is my belief that Akeem Jordan is really a Will linebacker.

Fokou is going to have a tough battle with Niners tight end Vernon Davis, who is a physical specimen.  Fokou didn’t emphasize his size or power, he stressed his ability to get deep.

The Eagles strongside backer will try to hold up Davis on passing plays to prevent Davis from getting deep and putting pressure on the safeties.

The Niners are a tough football team that will put the ball on the ground and pound it with the best of them.  It wouldn’t surprise anybody if that’s their strategy against the Birds.

McDermott says the Birds have to bring their toughness every week.  They’re going to get a heavy dose of Niners hard-running halfback Frank Gore this weekend.   Like Ryan Torain and Clinton Portis of the Skins, Gore will run a defender over if he’s not attacked.

Former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook is another weapon, who hasn’t played very much so far.  The Birds defense will have to be aware of where and when he lines up.

He did note that the NFL haven’t had many consistent teams this year, regardless he’s hoping his defensive unit we find a way to get the job done on Sunday.