McNabb didn't have an oustanding quarter and a half. He was blitzed and hurried. Kevin Curtis looked shakey when asked to make a tough catch and take a shot. As bad as the offense looked, they looked great compared to a defense that gave us all reason to worry.
The offense is going to have to do a better job of picking up the blitz. There was a number of problems communicating because you had a number of penalties and miscues when Pittsburgh came after the McNabb. You could see that the inexperience of right guard Nick Cole was exploited by the Steelers. This one of the draw backs to changing personnel on the "O" line. Cole was in there for Shawn Andrews.
The defense has been broken for awhile and that's why they have made so many changes. Last night performance was awful and you can believe the Eagles are going to have to spend a lot of time working on defending the screen.
They've got to take a close look at the play of strongside linebacker Chris Gocong. The game will slow down for him but he's got a lot of work to do in a short period of time. The kid never really caught up with the game. The kid has to learn to break down when he's approaching a ball carrier. Open field tackling is something vital to linebacking. He's still not there yet and the Steelers did the Birds a favor by attacking the kid.
Strong safety Sean Considine conitnues to look over matched. He looks like a little kid out there playing against grown men. Sean's got to play better than that. The youngster did force an interception and made quite a few tackles but making mistakes at safety usually wind up with points being put on the board. Most strong safeties knock people out, you can't accuse Considine of intimidating anybody. Just like Gocong, Considine has got to improve his tackling. Tackling is the life-blood of a good defense. You've got to be able to tackle if you want to be a good defense.
Omar Gaither was a step behind the both the running game and the screens. He's got to do a better job of figuring out what the defense is trying to do to him. This is where a veteran like Takeo Spikes has to sit down his young teammates and tell them to start anticipating the screen. I did like the fact that Gaither was around the ball. He's got to recognize how the other team is attacking them sooner.
Where's the pass rush? I was ready to get a good look at Jevon Kearse, but I'm still wondering whether he played or not. I did see him get up limping out of the pile but when is he going to make a play. They got no push from the tackles and no pressure from the ends.
As far as I'm concerned, Saverio Rocca has won the punting job over Dirk Johnson. Booming punts is one thing that Rocca does a great job of, but pinning oponents down inside the 10 yard line is even better. Rocca has come on strong of late and clearly has the lead over Johnson in the battle for the Eagles punting job.
