Eagles new defensive line coach Jim Washburn got a lot of fanfare when he signed with the Birds last offseason and brought us the “Wide Nine” defensive alignment, but he’s been upstaged of late by offensive line coach, Howard Mudd because of all the shuffling on the O line.
Yesterday, his defensive linemen especially the defensive ends brought the heat from the “Wide Nine” alignment and got him back on the front pages because that pass rush had a huge impact on yesterday’s opening day win against the Rams.
They got contributions from nearly every defensive end on the active roster. Washburn couldn’t have drawn it up any better. The boys were getting off on the snap of ball and they were coming with intensity. The width and the angle of their attacks seemed to give them an advantage over the offensive tackles.
They play a more “Violent” style of football out of the “Wide Nine”. They don’t just sack the quarterback, they pummel him. They’re more aggressive in attacking the offensive tackles who are blocking them. On running plays when they get in the backfield, it’s a collision between the defensive end and the running back.
The biggest play of the game was made by two defensive linemen Darryl Tapp and Juqua Parker. The Eagles defense was dragging through the first quarter and it was getting dominated upfront. Rams running back Steven Jackson had gone untouched on a 49-yard touchdown run.
The game was tied 7-7, then the Eagles defensive line took over.
Tapp exploded out of his stance, got into the backfield and grabbed Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. Tapp’s presence in the backfield seemed to disorient Bradford and he laid the football on the turf. Parker grabbed it up and headed for the end zone with an escort by outside linebacker Moise Fokou.
He straight-armed Fokou initially thinking he was one of the Rams trying to make a tackle.
“When you scoop the ball, you don’t want to get caught,” Parker said. Defensive players never pass up the chance to verbally get in a dig at their defensive teammates, who get run down when trying to return a turnover. Parker was intent on making sure he never had to deal with any of those jokes.
“That was the turning point right there,” defensive end Trent Cole said after the game. “After that it was full steam ahead.”
“Coach Juan and Coach Washburn brought something in that allows us to play ball,” Tapp said. “That’s what we did.”
Jason Babin, who seems most comfortable in the “Wide Nine” was flying off the corner and manhandling offensive tackles, who outweigh him by forty to fifty pounds. Babin does a great job of grabbing the tackles before they can get their hands on him, then throwing them out of the way on his way to the quarterback.
He came down with Bradford twice and nearly knocked him out on one of those sacks.
The “Wide Nine” seems to fit Cole just as well as Babin. It looks like they’re attacking at a higher speed when they’re rushing from the “Wide Nine” alignment. Cole came down with Bradford once and he too got a good hit on the Rams quarterback.
Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins also got in on the act.
“We’re not hoping to get to the quarterback. We’re expecting it,” veteran Jenkins said.
Tapp who left the game with a pectoral injury, got him a sack in addition to the forced fumble while attacking from the “Wide Nine”. Just like the other Eagles defensive ends Tapp appears to be a different player in the “Wide Nine”.
Still the Eagles must find a way to defend the run with their defensive ends spread out so wide. Their linebackers aren’t good enough to get off blocks and stop teams from ripping through them .
Was really nice to see that type of pressure without having to blitz every down. I am sure the fact that Bradford was afraid to throw out Nnamdi or Samuel helped this too.
they were violent alright … those three penalties on failed third downs (that eventually gave the rams the ball back) showed us that
sorry had to vent! the front four did play much better; however, they have to be more consistent against the run and cut out penalties … if we were playing a better team, they most likely would have made us pay
Great Effort by the DL but they key to the Eagles Defense success is going to be the play and abililty of these young LB’s to be able fill these “wider gaps” and made plays before the Running Backs get to the 2nd level and into the Secondary..
agree pman and everyone. The wide 9 puts more pressure on the LB’s to stuff the run AND get outside to cover the Te’s and rb’s. i think at the end of this season, the Eagles will look to add a serious player at LB. God i hope im right….. the good news……
we won. We looked sloppy out there on both sides of the ball. With all the change over and a short camp and such i knew we would. It will take a few weeks to work out the kinks but i honestly feel like if we can walk away with 4-2 record or better out of the gate we will be flying high.
btw- had 2 bald eagles fly over my head on thursday. This…. is a good sign.
As an FYi
Everyone knows that the Texans manhandled the Colts yesterday, just thought everyone would want to know that on the 70 Offensive plays the Houston Texans ran yesterday, Colts LB Ernie Sims had 1 Tackle..
haha- thanks Pman. btw- was stew out there yesterday? i didnt even remember to look.
Stew played very little for the Cardinals yesterday..
I watched most of the game since I live in the Panthers Local TV Market and
actually is was a pretty exciting game, I recall Bradley playing 1 early in the 4th quarter to spell the Cardinals Starter and was not credited with any Tackles in the game Summary stats..
i just read 1 quote that concerns me…..
“That first one [Jackson’s touchdown] was rough,” Castillo admitted after his unit held the Rams to one touchdown and 335 net yards in an impressive, 31-13, season-opening victory. “But the NFL is about throwing the football. That’s how people score points.”
stevo hes right tho.. although brian rolle needs to be on the field.. the eagles can score alot.. so you get good corners and pass rusers so the have trouble passing you cant run when your down
Paulman’s Top 10 in the NFC after Week # 1
#1) Packers 1-0 (The best all-around team until proven otherwise)
#2) Bears 1-0 (Manhandled the Falcons in probably the best all-around performance by an NFC Team in opening week)
#3) Lions 1-0 (Won a road game against a quality opponent who won 10 games last year in Tampa Bay)
#4) Redskins 1-0 (Beat their NFC East Rival at home by 2 TD’s, a good start for a team that is going to be much better than many think)
#5) Eagles 1-0 (A sluggish start, but finished strong to win on the road kind of easliy)
#6) Saints 0-1 (Lost to the Super Bowl Champs,on the road, but still had a chance to tie the game at the very end of the game.. )
#7) 49ers 1-0 (Beat last years NFC West Division Winner , the Seahawks, pretty easily which may not be saying much,but they still got a much needed win)
#8) Cardinals 1-0 (Kolb played well in his debut and they came back to win against a improved and pesky PAnther team at home)
#9) Cowboys 0-1 (Played well in a hostile environment up at the Jets up until the last 10 minutes of the game..Romo 2 turnovers sealed the deal)
#10) Vikings 0-1 (Played well the 1st Half on the road against a quality team in San Diego)
That’s it for now
Maybe they should only play the Wide Nine on passing downs
Stevo
I was not going post today and let all of the fans enjoy this victory over a scrub team.
All this, a win is a win crap. This is classic Andy Reid. Beat the Scrub teams and make the playoffs.
M. Vick was under 50% against a scrub secondary. Because of the sorry offensive line. The Rams averaged 6 yards per carry rushing. You won’t be playing the Rams for a trip to the superbowl.
But when I read that quote…I said what a moron.
The Packers came into Philly last year with a great passing attack and they ran the football.
The Bears break a long run on the Eagles everytime they play them.
This is the best Schedule the Eagles have had in a long time.
I am glad the Eagles won and will eat the required crow for predicting a Rams upset.
PS – Thanks paulman for that update on the ‘SHARK IN THE WATER”.
The money he stole from the Eagles last year should go down as of the greatest broad daylight heist of all time, and the primary reason I don’t think the Eagles owe Desean Jackson a penny. When players start giving back the money when they underperform, they should get a raise for over performing their contract. If there is such a thing, since you get paid to perform well in the first place.
bsm – kudos for that post – all around. And I have to agree about this being an easy schedule – suprisingly so to be honest. But are you suggesting that if the Eagles (chalk) have a great season (in otherwords, win all the ‘easy’ games on the schedule, and let’s say come out even on the tough ones)… and win the division/ end up with a bye in the first round. If that happens – will you make excuses for the success or give the team credit for performing well?
i was also going to point out the pack bsm- thats what i was thinking about. They did whatever they wanted against us. They kept vick off the field. i am not going to rip on the team… im not negative like that but i will say that if thats what they are thinking… that concerns me.
I dont agree about a weak team though BSM. they match up well against us. They are exaactly the kind of team that will give us fits…. a blitzing team that has good DE’s. also… a running team that can use the TE’s underneath against our new zone first team. I think the rams win their Div and i think we beat a good team.
pman- your list is crap. sorry dude. I watched the Vikes (i live here) and they are not anywhere near as good as u think they are. #5 looked roough out there. He would have given up another pick 6 if they had not also faalse started on the play.
HEY G. I call th Eagles front 4 the “Get em Boys”. cause when you snap that ball they go get em.lol we got to give that d line an identity so it will go around the leauge so QBS know we are coming. All the hits on the QB puts that fear in them so they wont belooking down field and always looking over there shoulder. wait till we get B Grahm back he is going to be a beast TRUST ME. late in the season when other teams are hurting they are going to have to try and stop all the fast balls. GET EM BOYS pass it on ..
cant believe im writting this but- any chance we see a guy like tapp playing middle linebacker? we have good depth on the line and im wondering how we can plug that hole long term. I know the tweener craap has not worked for us but anychance we have a guy already on our team that would work? ok… im hitting myself right now… noone else needs to do it.
Question..How can the defensive QB (MLB) who is responsible for getting players in the proper positions each play, be out of position most of the time?
I haven’t seen a face tackle from this guy yet. He’s runiing from behind to get into a play…
He’s Considine on Roids.
Get Matthews the hell out of here.
Easy Songs, that’s an insult to Considine..
roids? more like hemmoroids… this guy couldn’t get out of a wet paper bag. he’s not his brother, at least not now. he’s soft. you could see it in his college career with how he tackled. he can’t stuff the run. he can’t stop a moving target dead in its tracks. he couldn’t do it in college so how the hell did big fat red think he was going to be able to do it in the nfl? this is my point with this kid. it’s just mind boggling the stupidity that this team makes. i guarantee turner is going walk right through him.