Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker has missed all the practices but the Friday workout, which is nothing but an energized walk-through. He’s got a strained hip which will likely prevent him from playing at full strength. Andy Reid was asked about Parker’s health yesterday.
“He went through some things today”, Reid said. “You know, we weren’t live, obviously today. But he was moving around pretty good. He feels pretty good. He’ll do a little bit more tomorrow, and then we’ll see.”
Obviously, the Giants are aware of his health problems, so you can expect them to test rookie Brandon Graham on that left side with their running game, if the veteran is ailing at all . Parker is bigger and stronger against the run than Graham, so I expect New York to feature their running game tomorrow night.
One of the keys to the Eagles defensive success will be their ability to anticipate when the Giants are going to run the football. Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott will be able to put them in an alignment which is strong against the run, if he has found some good tendencies with the down, distance and their formations.
Graham has shown the ability to put pressure on the passer but he hasn’t been nearly as effective against the run. He’s undersized and his arms are short, which put him at a disadvantage against the league’s big offensive tackles. T
he rookie will have to use his quickness and athletic ability to get the jump on the big boys. He’s got to keep their hands off him, so they can’t hold him. If they do grab him, he must get rid of them as quickly as possible. The entire defensive line must get off of their blocks and get to the football.
The Giants are sure to run the football at the young defensive end. They were going to run it any way but the injury to Parker will tempt to run more often. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs are a good pair of backs, who compliment each other quite well.
Bradshaw has taken over as a the starter. He’s the faster of the two and he has the ability to break tackles and make defenders miss in the open field. He has also put the ball on the ground, so the Birds need to pull the football out when they get the chance.
Jacobs is huge for a running back at 265 pounds and he runs hard. The big fella has a problem when tacklers attack his legs.
They’re going to try to keep the ball away from Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy and company. Ball possession is sure to be a big part of their plan to beat the Eagles. We’ll all be watching to see how things work out.
Vick, offense producing in red zone
When evaluating the Eagles’ offense this season, there are several impressive numbers to point to.
The Birds are third in yards per game (400.2); second in scoring (28.6 PPG); and have the fewest turnovers (9).
But the one worth examining today is red-zone production.
There’s no question that the Eagles are a big-play offense. In the run game, they’re third in the league with 11 runs of 20-plus yards. In the pass game, they’re sixth in the league with 32 plays of 20-plus yards. And Michael Vick is second in yards per attempt (8.8).
But the Eagles have shown they can sustain drives (44 percent on third downs is fourth-best in the league) and produce touchdowns instead of field goals inside the 20. Perhaps that’s the most impressive part about the offense. It can do damage in a variety of ways.
Overall, the Eagles rank eighth in the league in red-zone scoring at 58.6 percent. That’s the percentage of touchdowns the Eagles have converted. Here’s how their 29 red-zone trips break down:
RZ Chances TDs FGs Missed FGs TOs
29 17 8 3 1
But on chances with Michael Vick, the Eagles are even more impressive. In 17 red-zone trips into the red zone with Vick, the Eagles have scored 13 touchdowns and kicked four field goals for a scoring percentage of 76.5. That number would rank first in the league – by a longshot. Buffalo (go figure) is currently No. 1 in red-zone scoring percentage at 68.4 percent.
It’s a huge difference from a year ago for the Eagles. In ’09, the offense ranked 20th at 49.06 percent.
And there really hasn’t been one go-to guy or go-to play, either. Here’s a breakdown of the Eagles’ 17 red-zone touchdowns:
Player Red-zone TDs
Vick (running) 4
Jeremy Maclin 4
LeSean McCoy (running) 3
Brent Celek 2
DeSean Jackson 1
Jason Avant 1
LeSean McCoy (receiving) 1
Riley Cooper 1
Total 17
They’ve passed for nine and run for eight.
In the last two weeks, Vick has run for three touchdowns in the red zone, tying him for team-high RZ scores with Maclin. However, Maclin has not had a red-zone score since Week 6.
McCoy has four total – three running and one receiving. But all three of his rushing TDs in the red zone came in the season’s first two weeks.
Seven different players have scored in the red zone.
Both Kevin Kolb and Vick have passed the ball well in the red zone. Kolb’s QB rating inside the opponents’ 20 is 116.9, and Vick’s is 102.0.
Conversely, the Eagles’ red zone defense has been horrible. Opposing offenses have converted 78.26 percent of their red-zone chances into touchdowns against the Birds. That puts the Eagles at dead-last in the NFL. Last year, they ranked 23rd at 56.14 percent.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s matchup with the Giants, New York’s defense is 18th, allowing opponents to score touchdowns 52 percent of the time.
And the Giants’ offense has been good in the red zone, converting 60 percent of its opportunities into touchdowns, good enough for seventh-best in the league.
Just one more thing that could end up being a deciding factor in the outcome of Sunday night’s game.
Great info Winslow! I definitely think an Eagles win will be more about how well the Defense plays than the Offense. I just don’t see the G Men shutting down the O. I expect them to make the Eagles earn every point and play but, move it they will. The Eagles need the D and the crowd to come up very big!
Nobody is mentioning the Kickoff and Punt returns
Eagles were sub par against the skins
Let’s hope special teams both ways don’t screw up this game
Don’t know why the 09 Eagles were brought into the Redzone discussion, when you mention Buffalo is first overall this year and they are sitting at 1-8 obviously it does not translate into a good or bad football team