I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again. You can’t beat good veteran quarterbacks by blitzing them in the playoffs. I’ve think we’ve seen that during Jim Johnson’s tenure as the defensive coordinator.
Although the Birds had tremendous success in the regular season during the Johnson years with their blitz, they were only able to force a total of one fumble and one interception in four NFC Championship game losses and one Super Bowl loss. That’s two turnovers in five games. That’s losing defensive football.
In the playoffs, you normally play against veteran quarterbacks, who are playing at the top of their games. They recognize the blitz and get rid of the football.
If one of the Eagles defensive backs misses a tackle, then you’ve got a big play. The Packers receivers may be the best group of receivers in the league and they’re outstanding when it comes to running with the ball after the catch.
Now let’s get to the biggest question of the week. How should Sean McDermott and the Eagles try to stop Aaron Rodgers and the Packers passing offense?
The Birds have allowed 31 touchdown passes this season which is an average of almost two per game. I know you’ve heard how bad the Eagles defense is in the red zone. Well, it should convert you to know that according to Philly.com, Rodgers has a 107.4 quarterback rating in the red zone.
Should they blitz Rodgers and try to get hits on him, knowing that he isn’t that far away from a concussion? Can they get enough pressure on him with the front four or will they be forced to blitz?
McDermott should be able to pick up some tips from the Bears vs. Packers tape since Chicago was able to hold them to 10 points.
Every time you blitz them, you leave your defensive backs in one-on-one situations. Every time you go after him, you leave Dimitri Patterson or Joselio Hanson by themselves in man-to-man situations.
You know that the Eagles right cornerback position is suspect and will be a target of Rodgers and the Packers. The Birds have to be ready for it.
They can use a safety to help deep on the coverage then have the corners move up and jam the receiver. Patterson or Hanson must change where they lining up. Sometimes they could be up and sometimes they could play back.
Do you play a bend but don’t break style of defense? They could play a loose zone and give Rodgers and his receivers all the short routes. I don’t think it would be a good idea to give anything to Rodgers.
Despite some ups nd downs during the season, he had the highest quarterback rating in the NFC at 101.2.
You could play a lot of double-zone coverages and take away the deep throws to their wide receivers. That would leave middle linebacker Jamar Chaney alone with one of the Packers tight ends down the middle of the defense. Their tight ends are anything special, so this might be a good option.
Their wide receivers are talented and each of them can beat you if they’re not covered. Greg Jennings can make all the plays and he’s got big time speed. He beat Ellis Hobbs for a touchdown during the first game of the season.
Donald Driver is a bit older but he still has the deep speed and he catches everything that Rodgers throws. Driver and Jennings are Rodgers two favorite targets, but he does have confidence in the others.
James Jones is another playmaker for Rodgers to get the ball to. He makes the great catch, but will occasionally drop an easy pass.
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson has tremendous size, but he’s also capable of getting deep if you don’t keep an eye on him.
None of the tight ends have the talent of Jermichael Finley but they are capable of making plays on occasion. I would try to take away the wide receivers and force the tight ends to beat me.
I think the only real answer for the Birds defense is defensive end Trent Cole and his buddies up front. They must put pressure on Rodgers without relying on the blitz.
I saw the Giants try to blitz Rodgers and he picked them apart. The Bears didn’t do very much blitzing but they were able to get pressure on him with the four man pass rush. They nearly scored 50 points on the Giants but the Bears held them to 10 points.
Somebody get Trent Cole on the phone, we’ve got to get him motivated for a great performance on Sunday.
Try to play with 12 Defensers on the field and hope you don’t get caught..
When was the last game that Cole was dominating in…I would expect that he will be double teamed
a lot so somone else has to step up big time to make up for the 1 on 1 matches on everyone else
Also on 3rd Down Conversions, Isn’t Rodgers one of the league leaders in this category too..
Rodgers throws a great SIde Line Out Route for that 15-20 yard pass and all the Packers Recievers are adept at running it and catching it anbd don’t discount TE D Lee who has had some big catches for them down the stretch…
Reid stated today that “it would be a stretch” to think the Bradley would play on Sunday.
What do you guys think?
My opinion, I used to be a big Bradley fan, but I think Chaney has done a good job (on another note, I thought Gaither played like sh** yesterday. That guy is stealing money if you ask me.). If Bradley is indeed healthy, I would like to see Chaney stay inside and Bradley & Fouku play the outside backers. If Bradley is not healthy I still feel that Chaney can get the job done in the middle.
One big difference in the Packers since our last meeting in week 1 is that Jemarcus Finely is out. The guy caused us some real problems in that game, and him not being in there is definately a good thing for our defense.
Just heard from a Cheesehead Ssource of mine from Osh Kosh,Wisconsin that the Packer’s Coaches are seriously considering about going with 3rd String QB G Harrell as the Starting Qb due to the recent success that other teams in the NFL has had going with them.. HArrell is 6′ 2″ 215lbs Rookie from Texas Tech and very adept at running the spread offense which he did with great success while at TT
and just like the previous 2 weeks, Harrell would be making his first NFL Start as a QB..
Third stringers against our back-ups.
There run-game…will they need one?
How many plays will it take for Rogers to start picking on Patterson?
I say the over-under would be play 2
To GF,
I agree and think LB S Bradley will never see the MLB position as long as Chaneys healthy..
Bradley will be moved to the outside replacing E Sims who is a free-agent and most likely will not be offered a contract to keep him in Philly. Bradley may even become the Joker role next year as a pass
blitizing LB in certain packages (similar to what Packers do with Matthews JR in passing situations)
I bet Bradley could be more effective in that role and get 8-9-10 Sacks a season playing 30 snaps a game..
How about a run heave game plan on offensive and try to keep the Packers O on the sidelines? I know it will never happen because andy wants win HIS way rather than win running the ball. Sheldon Brown sounds nice right about now.
G, McDermott can only pick up tips from Chicago if we had a front 4 that was capable of getting pressure. Chicago has one of the best front 4s (may the Giants only have better) in the league. They can get constant pressure without blitzing and play their base defense. We can’t. Simply put. Everyone was talking about Peppers last offseason about how he takes plays off and probably won’t play hard after he gets his money.
Dude is still a monster and just disruptive and I’d take him over ANY one of our DEs and that includes Trent Cole who wears down and disappears at the end of every season. He’s help take their front 4 pass rush to a new level and that makes it easier on the LBs and the DBs. I don’t know if we will be able to do that but we will have to keep him off balanced and we we don’t blitz get some pressure, hits or qb hurries on Rodgers and force him to make mistakes. We will need a big day from Cole and Parker. They don’t have to get a lot of sacks but get in his face and be disruptive.
Just play contain and hope our D Line gets through, they are deep at receiver and our corners suck, the packers team will hurt us. NO ALL OUT BLITZ!!! We just need to outscore and maintain field possession.
I get it…they have an awesome pass attack. One that looked like sh!t yesterday. Our secondary is leaking oil but will be rested and ready. Rodgers is a phenomenal talent with skills too pay the bills. I find it hard too believe there gonna dice us for 3-400 hundred yards and rush for 20-30 and beat us. On the road and cold. ………Noone thinks a absence of a rungame will hurt them?
I sound like a broken record with this but the teams that are left are all flawed. The most fatal flaw too me of any team is no run-game,no run d,and poor pass pro. Everything else too me can be masked. The Birds have suspect pass pro. Too me thats mroe of an issue then the secondary. The d-line can help them. The o-line just needs to focus and make the right call. Falls on #7 as well.
I’d like to see a mixed bag at D Line, Parker in the DT, Trevor in the Mike position. We’ve got the D line just need them to show up juiced. This game hinges on our D line BIG TIME
green, Chaney is a natural at inside LB. Bradley is best suited on the outside and is probably best suited on the Strong side and go with Fokou at the weakside. Just get Ernie Sims outta here. I’m tired of seeing him running the wrong way. And yea you’re right about Finely. We know good TEs give us fits. Also they don’t have Grant (even though he got injured that first game). The key here will be momentum. Obviously, with Rodgers back and they are feeling themselves (that’s understandable) so can we stop their momentum will be key.
Reid needs to have Ernie Sims go helmet to helmet on Rodgers to knock him out the game…. that’s the only thing he’s good for LOL.
The biggest difference with the Packers since week #1 is their play of their Secondary
CB T Willsiams leads the team wit 6 INt and will be guarding D-Jax most of the game,
Woodson is bigger and stronger but does not have the speed like he did when he was younger
Another are of improvement is their Safey play where N Collins and A Bigby were injured at the beginning of the season and missed the 1st Eagles game. These Safeties can run,hit and make plays on the ball.. the Packers probably have the best Secondary (outside of the Bears) in the NFC
Another big time player is NT B Raji who played at a Pro-Bowl level the 2nd half of the season and will be a match-up probably versus C McGlynn and G MJG or Cole..He’s a load that has quick feet and very good pash rushing abilitity from the NT position which allows the Packer Defense to then
move Matthews all around and come from the edges.. He must be neutralized
What you can do versus this Packer team is run the ball, they are a little smallish on the edges and
don’t have a lot of Depth across the D/Line as in past years, so if you can keep them on the field,sustain drives they will have a tendancy to tire out as the game goes along
oh yeah Green, it’s Jermichael Finley. Just an FYI.
ozz, I agree. Sheldon does sound nice right now. Sure, he didn’t have a good year in Cleveland but he’s better than anyone we have behind Samuel. That’s another case of getting rid of a guy and having crap behind him. I don’t mind when the Eagles get rid of veteran players when they have backups who are just as capable or better but we didn’t in this case and other cases as well.
Erock, yes their passing game didn’t look that good AGAINST THE BEARS. Everyone’s passing game looks great against us. We cannot compare what they did against the Bears since they have one of the best defenses in the league, division rival etc…
I think the absence of the run game will hurt them if we play good against the pass. But here’s my question, where is our run game? It’s almost as nonexistent as theirs. At least their starting pro bowl RB is injured. What’s our excuse?
Only way we can stop is pressure up front. Since we get zero push up the middle and haven’t for years, I don’t see anyway to stop Packers. We just have to outscore them.
I just get a sense that all this onus is put on how great there passing game is and how it will disect us and not enough is put on the fact we’ll be waiting for all that. They have zero fallback. How many times have we seen a p-off game go the complete different direction everyone predicted. Just saying….i think the Bids are gonna have somethign prepared for this guy.
And yes…get back too the pound game. Harrison looked spry.
LOL scorp….I had a bad feeling when I typed that name…thanks for the correction. Regardless, the guy killed us and it is good that he isn’t playing.
That cover two defense with a good pass rush is the answer to them. Your deep safeties take away the deep stuff and everybody pursues to the short stuff. When he waits for the deep routes to open up, you get to him with the pass rush.
Can the Eagles rush the passer as well as the Chicago Bears?
G, Nope. At least we haven’t proven it in the last few weeks. Sure they can get some every now and then but not consistently. Even the blitzing hasn’t been working as effectively against the better teams. The Bears have a good way of defending Rodgers but we don’t have their personnel. I wish it was easy to say play them like the Bears play them but that’s easier said than done.
No they can’t G-Man,
They are getting pretty thin at the DE spot with basically 3 players left to play for the rest of year (Cole/Parker/Tapp) so Cole will play about every snap which hopefully he can sustain his energy and execution level.. PArker has slowed down since Grhamas Injury.. and Tapp has made some plays..
Need someone to step up on the inside like Laws/Bunkley to help out Dixon..
The Bears have probably the best LB’s in the NFL for Pass Coverage …. Briggs,Urlacher and Tiasomosa all are quick and good athletes and get very deep in coverage quickley ans take away the deep in or crossing route and then are very sure tacklers on the underneath stuff.. The Eagles LB’s in comparison really are no comparison and I think the the LB Strength of the Bears can allow their DB’s to take more chances on the ball and remain agressive which makes them a difficult Defense to throw, throw, throw and you put that with a good Front 4 and it’s why the Bears are where they are…
You live by the sword. . .
The last thing I want to see is a comfortable Rodgers. We need hits on him early and often, even if it means coming from behind.
drummer, I agree. Andy needs to send Ernie as a head hunter. What’s a 15 yard penalty if you knock Rodgers out for the game? LOL
My crystal ball reveals that Asante will get 2 picks.
15 yard penalty, fine, whateva – take it to him.
The Eagles D led by D/C McDermott game plan really made 2 those 3rd String QB’s (Webb & MCGhee) who happen to be making their 1st NFL Starts in the LInc real uncomfortable didn’t they..
McDermott is too damn passive and doeesn’t have ther agression and risk taking in him to do what it takes, maybe he has been faking us all out and will devise a real effective game plan and come after the QB.. I am not holding my breath though…
Any NFL quarterback can pick apart a defense if he has time. We must get to him at any and all costs.
Our best defense may be our offense. Rodgers can’t beat us from the bench. Let’s keep those guys on the sideline with sustained drives. If we can get 2 or 3 long drives (with scoring), we can then go for the home run.
Everybody expects Andy to come out winging the ball deep. So, let’s do the opposite.
Our poor showing in the last 2 games could be a blessing in disguise. Hopefully, these coaches will have learned from their mistakes.
We need misdirection plays that get their defense flowing in one direction. That’s how you beat an over-aggressive defense.
Word is the Samuel’s knee is still bothering him and that there is a possibility that he could be a no-go again this week which would be cripplin to this Defense.. Maybe G has some info on him…
I’m not expecting our defense to stop them. We’ve been winning by scoring 30 points, and we’ll likely need to continue doing so.
Ozz
I just saw your post. I agree that we need to keep Rodgers on the bench, employing the short passing game, draws, traps, the shuttle pass, hitches, screens, anything misdirection.
Expect the flea flicker and at least one trick play on special teams.
When do the Eagles ever have consitent time consuming , clock sustaining drives, Drummer..
Eagles score on 4-5 play drives in about 2 minutes half the time.. When they slow down and try to play that ball-control offense, they don’t play well, they end up standing around and then self destruct with mentall errors like penalties, missed assignments, drop passes and the like..
Eagles probably have better chance of going balls to the wall ad 60 passing attempts and just try to outlast and out-condition them….
We have beaten some good qb’s this year…Ryan, both Mannings and Shaub to name a few…it isn’t like we can’t do it. All teams have injuries, so the fact that our D-line is a bit thin shouldn’t be a suprise.
Yeah, we have not played our best ball the last three weeks, but we have been able to win games this year when the conventional wisdom was that we had no chance. Unfortunately, we have also lost some games that should have gone in our favor too, so it all evened out. Here we are in the playoff’s with a home game.
We need to pack-up the guys that got us here, make no-excuses and throw everything but the kitchen sink at the Packers because there is no use holding anything back. I said it a number of games ago, this is a different team. We need to have #7 show us the swagger and the young guys will feed off of it. We need the defense to “punch them in the mouth”, lay some hits that send a message early that we don’t plan on rolling over.
It is easy to be concerned about all of the holes that have appeared in this team throughout the last number of weeks, but every team has it’s problems. As far as issues with the defense, if we are lacking players to get it done, we will need to use our offense to sustain drives and keep them off the field.
This game is far from over, we have players that have surpassed our expectations throughout the year. There is no reason to start doubting them now. If you are worried go to the SPCA and get a four legged friend, otherwise I agree with Drummer and say that we “live by the sword”. GO BIRDS!!!
hey happy new years fellas! rodgers is one big hit from a concussion! pound him good and pound him often! the bears played a lot of cover 2 and man under! i think that with cole and tapp they will be the better combo at the ends>>>>>> i also think that the birdz should also put chaney in on passing downs….. he has more speed than bradley and he could cover donald lee at te…… donald driver!!!!!!! make sure u know where he is at all cost my gosh!!!! LMAO GO BIRDZ
Bert Jones and the Baltimore Colts. Dan Mario and the Miami Dolphins. Both enter the play-offs and are deemed unstoppable.
Pressure up the middle sent them both packing for home. The 49ers shut down Mario in the superbowl and the Steel Curtain stopped Bert Jones and Lydell Michell. Blitze MLB Chaney who has tremendous speed. And fill his gap with Coleman. Use Stunts and occasionally bring a corner off the edge. The drop back 8 and rush only 3. Mix it up. Quit sending softies on the blitz.
This is a chance for the Fantastic Scrub (Ernie Sims) to make some plays. Use his speed and hitting power to send Aaron Rogers “BACK TO THE FUTURE”! Even if it means a penalty. Let’s not act like they are’nt going to do the same to Vick! They are going to knock him back to the Peninsula District as soon as the game starts. Penalty or no penalty.
Andy seemed awful happy to be playing Green Bay. I don’t think he wanted any part of the Giants. He knows that the Packers are one dimensional and the Eagles defense only gave up 1 score yesterday. Andy saw something on film. This will not be a shoot out. The Eagles will shut down Aaron Rogers.
The first key the rest of the way is our OL consistently containing the rush and/or getting push on run plays, and our offense being very creative, aggressive and much sharper in execution. More effective use of McCoy ala Westbrook… receiving and running. More quick hit plays, then the occasional bomb. Vick needing to run quickly if the first and second guys are covered instead of trying to extend the play by dodging tacklers and going through entire reads. Get the ball out fast. We’ve got speed – use it. If McCoy is used more diversely, and Vick makes decisions more quickly, it will keep Pack off balance. This game will tell you much about Reid/Mornhinweg’s creative ability to DEFEAT defenses. We’ll need 30pts to win this game because we’re not going to win if it becomes a defensive struggle in playoffs. Great offense, adequate defense. I’m expecting one and done this year.
Get Dan Teo more work at DE which helps Cole. Packers are not a running team so need to get in Rogers’ face with hits as much as possible without getting blitz happy. This defense still needs major attention in off-season. If the offense can’t put points up all game long, this defense will not be able to get off field easily.
Rather have Chaney (he’ll get bigger) in as MLB than even a “healthy” Bradley. Sims is a “talking lightweight” and must go. Start looking for bigger Patterson/Bunkley replacements. “Motor” is not enough without some beef and physicality.
well the GB packers do pass often so i guess that’s an advantage for us……. Thats all we do at practice is passing plays lol! Jerome harrison doesnt have to hire a cleaning service 2 clean his uniform after sunday game because AR and MM dont use him…… Maybe they’ll use him in the playoffs (fingers crossed)!!
Charles woodson was lined up with the linebackers all game just about against chicago!!! it was a good game plan against them…. im not sure they’ll risk him playing in……. rushing the passer often with our receivers…….. with the speed they have…… a bit risky for them 2 give up a big play……..
my news 2 AR an MM……… Stop looking for the big play……. play a TRUE west coast offense and make our receivers get YAC…….. Line up Mccoy at wr……. Westbrook was deadly…… I believe mccoy could help at that department with his shifty mobility……… just a thought
jroc, what happened to your boy Derrick Burgess? LOL
It might help if we throw chairs at Rodgers and get somebody at the hotel to undercook their food he day before.
G how about using that “Joker” defense like we did against the Pats in the undefeated season? Maybe stand up cole or someone as a Joker and rush Rodgers that way?
End of season performance against winning and high quality teams: For NFC teams going into the playoffs. I am not making any statement of prediction, just raw numbers for you to check out and come to your own theory. More later, hmmm I am getting the hang of this Stat thing (Not!). What do you think?
W-L (PF/PA)
Eagles: 4-2 (28.0/24.5)
Bears: 3-3 (17.0/23.3)
Packers: 4-3 (21.7/15.9)
Saints: 3-3 (21.5/18.3)
Seahawks: 2-5 (19.0/32.7)
Falcons: 5-3 (21.0/ 21.3)
I think they need to show him all types of different looks. They should keep him guessing. They’ve got to disguise what they’re in and keep him unsure of what they’re doing. Fooling him won’t be easy, but they can’t let him get too sure of himself.
Numbers based on data grouped and crunched by Coldhardfootballfacts.com
Defensive front rank for NFC teams going to playoffs
Eagles: 9
Bears: 6
Packers: 10
Saints: 13
Seahawks: 26
Falcons: 25
Offensive line ranking for NFC teams going to playoffs
Eagles: 11
Bears: 32
Packers: 16
Saints: 4
Seahawks: 28
Falcons: 5
NFC Playoff Teams Offense: YPA Rank-Times Sacked-Yards Lost-Pass Attempts
Eagles: 12-50-313-561
Bears: 25-55-382-466
Packers: 3-38-231-541
Saints: 10-26-195-661
Seahawks: 27-35-194-544
Falcons: 19-23-158-577