Prior to the season, everybody has been talking about the Eagles defensive line and how they must dominate for the defense to play well an dthis team to win. So far, the Eagles best defensive lineman has been Brandon Graham. He’s had a sack in each game and he’s spending a lot of time in the opposing team’s backfield. The former number one pick has been making plays in the backfield for the Eagles against the run and against the pass.
I thought the Eagles defensive ends were going to have to put pressure on Jay Cutler and that’s what happened. Graham made some big plays off the corner, when he pounded the Bears running backs. He’s not big for a defensive end, but he’s powerful and explosive.
He made four tackles in the game against the Bears with two tackles for a loss and one sack. That’s outstanding play for a defensive end because he seems to all over the place making plays. He’s making plays in the offensive backfield.
Nigel Bradham is much better player than I thought he was when they signed him.
The biggest surprise to me is Doug Pederson. This guy is aggressive, confident and smart.
Graham, Peters, Celek are playing much better football than I thought they could.
Kendricks, Sproles, Jenkins and Kelce I thought would be better than their play so far.
Anyone Notice that LB Steve Tulloch had a lot of Snaps in the 2nd Half at MLB for Jordan Hicks.. Maybe just to get him some work, or just to spell Hicks for a bit, I think Hicks even played some at WILL while Kendricks came out ..
I believe Schwartz is going to Rotate the 4 LB’s (Bradham,Hicks,Kendricks & Tulloch) to keep them all fresh and give Offenses and QB’s different looks, etc,etc which may not be a bad idea based on the opponent, the score and circumstances..
Kelce has gotten beat often right up the middle on Run Blitz’s and on Passing Downs..This is where Defenses are going to attack, at least
until what happens at RT with LJ’s pending suspension, etc
When Eagles have an Empty Set– Defenses are Blitzing up the Gut…
Quick Slants to the TE or Slot Receiver should be there, but watch for the Steelers Safeties who will be there trying to make plays and clean up
Eagles will need to do more designed Roll-Outs for Wentz, Keep a RB or TE in the Back-Field to help pick-up the Blitz and sure up the middle for pass-protection.. It will be a Cat & Mouse type of Game Plan between the Steelers D and Pederson’s Offensive Play Calling
Bears ran 53 plays– Mills on the field for 43 of them.
Bears ran 53 plays-Tulloch on the field for 12 of them
Non- issue– monkey shit meet wall-
yes he is absolutely going to rotate 4 LBS– it was hot/humid in Chicago and they had a huge lead and were playing prevent….
There are 46 dressed for a game minus the P, K, LS — so there are only 43 players out there— if 22 are defensive and 21 offensive it means everyone plays– given different groupings about 14-15 on each side of the ball are considered starters….
Tulloch actually got the least number of plays of all of the linebackers. He did not get in at all last week, so I guess they are bringing him around slowly. I believe that they are looking to stay fresh at both linebacker and DL with a strong rotation. That combined with an offense that actually does a good job with time of possession, should help the overall performance of the unit.
Bradham had the most plays with 50, Hicks was second with 39, Kendricks had 20 and Tulloch comes in last with 12.
Duh..I said mills.., I meant hicks. Brain fart… Some reason I was thinking of that short guy played for saints, sam mills
Sam mills was a very good player, both for the Saints and in Carolina. Good guy to compare any linebacker, but was definitely shorter than most LB’s these days.