I knew at some point this season that Michael Vick was going to show all of us that he was human. He did that tonight and the Birds found themselves trailing in a hard fought NFC East battle with the archrival New York Giants. The Giants had put a stop to much of Vick’s heroics by putting pressure on him from his left side and forcing him to roll out or scramble to his right.
They rightfully figured out that forcing him to his right would eliminate some of his run or pass options which has driven defenses crazy. When rolling to his left Vick is able to draw coverage off of the receivers because of his the threat of running. When the defenders leaver their coverage and come up to tackle him, he simply throws the ball over their head to the receivers.
If he’s rolling to his right, he’s not able make those throws with his left hand.
They sent everything and the kitchen sink at Vick and it was working. The Birds had all kinds of chances in the first half to put the Giants away but they were unable to do it. Jason Avant dropped a touchdown pass from Vick which hit him in the chest.
The Eagles first score came when Vick ran in for a touchdown on a draw play by getting outside contain on a run to his right and taking the ball into the end zone. New York had the play stopped but they didn’t realize how fast Vick was and he was able to get across inside the pylon before the safety could get to him.
The Giants were very successful in stopping Vick’s scrambles and the Eagles running attack by filling in every gap on many of the blitzes with what’s called a zero blitz because bring up the both safeties. The entire defense comes up to the line of scrimmage and nobody is left deep.
They were forcing Vick to throw the ball quickly to avoid the pressure and get the ball out of hand, but Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg figured out a way to take advantage of the way the Giants were committing to so much to stop Vick and the Eagles running game.
It was a fourth down and one in the fourth quarter with the game on the line and the Eagles trailing 17-16. Vick called the signals and the Giants gradually moved up into their Zero Blitz.
Center Mike McGlynn snapped the ball, but he either snapped it too early or too late and Vick almost fumbled it. Running back LeSean McCoy who had been bottled up all night didn’t know whether to continue running outside or comeback inside and make sure New York didn’t recover a fumbled snap.
“I’ve seen that”, McCoy said after the game. “When he [QB Michael Vick] was bobbling it, I didn’t want to stop because I wanted to make sure he secured the ball. I went on with the play. Being a great athlete that he is, I knew he’d get the ball.”
The Giants defense attacked Vick when the saw the ball was loose. Some how the Eagles quarterback was able to get a handle on the ball and pitch it outside to McCoy.
New York defensive end Osi Umenyiora missed the pitch by a centimeter and McCoy gathered the toss in his hands and headed up field. There was a huge hole before because the Giants had everybody committed to the line of scrimmage.
Once McCoy broke through the line of scrimmage it was a foot race to the end zone. The Birds second-year running back wasn’t suppposed to have long distance speed but New York defenders had no chance of stopping him as he went in from the go head score.
“We practiced that this week” McCoy said with a smile. “We got the ball in the perimeter; we did a great job fooling their defense. The offensive line did a great job with selling it inside. It worked the way we wanted it to work.”
He got loose again on the next possession as the Birds opened a gap inside against the blitz. It put the Birds in position to kick another field goal and lock up the game. McCoy went over a 100 yards for the game even though he hadn’t gained twenty yards until the last four minutes.
Great call and great blocking by Peters & Herremans out in front, a bobbles snap almost blew it,
but Vick stayed calm and cool in the pocket while he pitched. I love it when McCoy is decisive and
makes the 1 cut and goes thru the hole, earlier he was dancing around too much looking for a cutback instead of just running for dalylight…
Hats off to the Eagles Coaching Staff. Ever Since Banner Made that statement about the definition of insanity, people have been let go and players have been benched must faster. They are doing a great job of putting the best people on the field.
Paul
I must disagree. McCoy rarely even touched the ball and when he did, there was no hole.
Prior to that play, McCoy had only run the ball 5 times.
1. Off-tackle for 4 yards on 2nd and 14.
2. Up the middle for 1 yard (Winston Justice missed a block).
3. Cross-buck for 5 yards (fake pitch to Jackson and McCoy in the 2 hole);
4. Off-tackle no gain
5. Draw play up the middle for 1 yard
In my opinion, play calling was an issue.
For the first 15 scripted plays, we passed the ball 63% of the time.
Afterward, until the McCoy run, we passed 83% of the time.
There was only one screen, no reverses, and no plays designed to slow down the pass rush were called.
As in the last game, Reid continued to roll Vick to his left. The Giants, however, counteracted with an overload on that side (their right). They forced Vick to scramble right, but his receivers were running patterns on the left side of the field.
That’s why coordinators prefer to drop straight back into the pocket. When you roll your quarterback to one side of the field, you can only play on that side. Otherwise, you’ll be throwing across your body – a certain no-no in the NFL.
Reid never made an adjustment to counteract Coughlin’s move. After the scripted 15 plays, there were no reverses, only one screen and 3 runs. When Reid finally did call a screen to McCoy, he picked up 17 yards.
drummer – they did try a reverse to Jackson early – didn’t really work that well. I think you’re obsessed with the play calling ratio thing. The Giants D is VERY VERY hard to run on and they were rushing 8 all day – you pass against that because the LBs and safety aren’t back there to defend the pass.
I do however agree with you on McCoy – he was making the most out of what they gave him early on. He got some critical yardage despite very little holes.
Schiller
My post says “after the first 15.”
Reid’s first 15 plays are scripted and are generally very good and are also balanced.
After those plays, however, he goes pass crazy.
63% in the first 15
83% until McCoy’s run
If I take out the first 15, it’s even higher. It’s probably in the 90 percentile.
I hear you on that, and you are certainly correct about the first 15.
I still think that if you get the win, the run/pass ratio was effective.
Against the giants D, more runs would have lead to more 3 and outs…
I’m obsessed with keeping the QB healthy.
When you pass 83% of the time, that’s an invitation to get your QB killed.
Yeah, you can get the win, but at what cost? It doesn’t do us any good to get our QB injured.
Why run McCoy only 5 times and 1 screen, especially when the pass rush is getting to your QB.
I don’t care about ratio, per se. I only care about keeping #7 upright and on the field.
Reid did the same thing to McNabb – calling 50 passes on a broken ankle, sports hernia, broken ribs, etc.
Reid also did the same with Kolb against the Titans.
Reid went from 54% passing to 77% passing. The pass rush started getting to Kolb. That’s when they started having those 3-and-outs, 4-and outs-and the Titans mounted their comeback.
G, in my opinion the Giants only did a good job because we dropped a couple TDs. The truth of the matter is if you score TDs on those plays then the Giants would have changed their defense because they would have gotten beat twice. The were blitzing a safety from the left all night and the short slant routes were there all day and one on one coverage on the outside. If our receivers make a couple of those plays, game is over at half time.
I thing that still kills be about Andy is the 2nd and short and 3rd and short play calling. He’ll throw the ball on both plays. I understand that a lot of times 2nd and 1 is a good time to take a shot down the field but sometimes, just run the ball and get the first down. We take a shot and then incomplete pass and you’d think we’d just run the ball to get the 1st. Well not Andy. Let’s outsmart them and throw it again. Sometimes you don’t need to outsmart them, just out-muscle them. Sometimes Andy is brilliant and other times just downright baffling.
I have made the point about Vick being only 6 ft and having to roll out or take 7 step drops in order to see the field
That tends to take away the quick release over the middle and is the only weakness in this offense
The TE has been practically no threat as a pass receiver and most good reams have the tight end as a big weapon
Hope the Eagles can figure away to get the TE more involved –the line backers don’t have to worry about covering him
If Avant and Jackson hold on to those td passes and the one FG isn’t blocked the game is a blowout
and Vick’s rating is back up over 100 easily
The other teams will see the tape on how the Giants defended Vick and the upcoming Bears are living by their defense so it will be interesting to see if Reid and his coaches come up with new wrinkles for the next game –but since Cutler is so worthless maybe the D will have a field day against him and score a couple of TDs
rcp, I agree but I also don’t think the Giants “figured anything out” regarding Vick. Teams will see what they did but we must remember that is our receivers catch the ball what the Giants did is not effective. This game should have easily been a blow out. The Giants did not play great defense. We nearly beat ourselves with dropped passes and penalties.