The Giants did a great job of pushing Michael Vick to his right in order to make it harder for him to throw the ball downfield.
When he runs to his left, it’s very easy for him to throw the football and that puts a great deal of pressure on the defense.
Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg didn’t have a great game plan for it on that Sunday night, but they’ve had some time to prepare for the blitzing and pressure from Vick’s left side.
Regardless of what you think of Reid and Mornhinweg as coaches, you have to admit they’ve proven to be quality game planners over the years. Reid doesn’t always do a good job when it comes to game time decisions and clock management, but he’s always been a good game planner.
“Well, I’ve been through it a lot before with movement of quarterbacks – [former Eagles and 49ers QB Jeff] Garcia and [former 49ers QB] Steve [Young]”, Mornhinweg said yesterday. “They did both sides. But you have to counter that and I thought we did it just a little bit. We left a few on the field.”
The Chicago Bears do a great job on defense and they especially do an outstanding job of tackling the football and pulling it out when they get the chance. They focus on getting turnovers which is one of the main reasons, they’re 7-3.
Vick and running back LeSean McCoy need to do a better job of carrying the football in a more secure fashion. You can’t carry the ball loose in the fashion which Vick and McCoy have done in the past against a turnover hungry defense like the Bears.
I would probably rate the Giants defensive personnel above the Bears. It’s one of the reasons that I don’t think the Bears can duplicate the pressure which New York put on Vick.
Make no mistake that Julius Peppers is one of the best defensive ends in the NFL, but the Birds have shown they can nullify one very good pass rusher. I believe Chicago will have trouble putting the constant pressure on Vick in the way the Giants were able to do.
The Birds should be able to move the football and put points on the scoreboard as long as they protect and secure the football.
Vick and company are going to face more of the cover two pass coverage scheme which they destroyed in the Redskins game. Mornhinweg says the Bears will play some cover two, but there are other coverages they’ll also employ.
“Well, I think that’s sort of a misnomer there with the Bears”, Mornhinweg explained. “And you talk about the Bears, they do play that very well. That’s a big part of their scheme and they’re very disciplined within it. However, they play an awful lot of some other coverages as well. It reminds me a little of Tampa [Bay] way back when. I think because they’ve got the players and then it’s also a very similar scheme. In fact, the Bears do a little bit more than the old Tampa Bay when they were very, very good on defense.”
I don’t think Chicago will have the nerve to play much cover two after they see how the Redskins were burned while playing it.
I expect a big day from the offense as long as they protect the football and stay away from turnovers.
We need to pick of interception machine, Jay Cutler off a few times. I can see this game going down as a very tight game but I can also see us blowing them out because of Cutler’s mistakes. That’s the type of QB he is. He could throw 4 INTs and make the team look worst than they are or go head to head with a very good QB. So we will have to see which Cutler we get.
I’m hoping the Eagles can maintian the positive turnover margin this weekend, but it will be tough. Jackson and Maclin will likely both be pressed early and often, making a big game from Celek or Harbor a must. Maybe a little 4 wide with Cooper on the field will open things up, but no matter what, everyone needs to protect the ball.
Yes, our D can cause some havoc on the Bears, the trick is that we need to get pressure quickly with just our front four. If you recall from last season, our front four didn’t get it done as well, and but for a few bad throws by Cutler, there were two scores that the Bears left on the table from beaten coverages. With the news that Dixon, Samuels, and Parker may all be out, the D’s work is cut out for them. Go Birds!
As we all know, Vick has zero interceptions this year. There are six games left in the season. Is it possible that he can go through the season (alright, he hasn’t started and finished every game but still) without throwing a pick? I’m almost certain this hasn’t been done by a full-time starter in the NFL. How awesome would that be? Say he finishes with 20 TDs and 0 INTs. That would be incredible. Even if he threw an INT every other game for the rest of the year he would still finish with only three interceptions. That blows my mind and to me is the most impressive part of this crazy season Vick is having.