I don’t know what happened on Sunday night to get the Eagles motivated enough to come out with their fists balled up and in a fighting mood. They were aggressive and angry football team, but they’ve got to keep that attitude going forward. The defense was especially nasty and I loved it.
Defensive line coach Jim Washburn must have given some kind of pre-game speech or maybe the guys realized that they were going to get embarrassed by New York if they didn’t come ready to play.
Every defensive lineman had a good game against the Giants. That tells me their attitudes were the difference. Each player was committed to doing his job. Rarely does everybody in a unit play well but all of the defensive linemen made a contribution.
Of Jason Babin made the play to decide the game, as he forced Eli Manning to fumble then the ball was picked up by backup defensive tackle Derek Landri and that all but ended the game. Babin and Landri were active and making play all night long.
Trent Cole made numerous tackles behind the line of scrimmage on running plays and his pressure forced Eli Manning to throw the ball away a couple of times. He got some good hits on Manning.
Cullen Jenkins played at a level from the defensive tackle position that we haven’t seen here since Jerome Brown died in the car accident. He was so dominant that the Giants had to be considering double-teaming him on every play. When he was left one-on-one he was making the tackle or in Manning’s face and pounding him.
I’ve never seen Mike Patterson rush the passer that way he did on Sunday night. He was also a terror against the run and stayed in the Giants offensive backfield.
Coming off the bench, Darryl Tapp, Juqua Parker, Trevor Laws and Landri each came with the same intensity or more than the starters. There was no relief for the Giants offensive line and it proves to be the difference in the game.
The Eagles offense turned the ball over three times and scored only 17 points, but the defensive line was so dominant that the Birds won any way.
The key to beating the Patriots will be getting pressure on Tom Brady especially up the middle. He doesn’t like to hold onto the football and he doesn’t like to move off his mark once he sets his feet.
If Jenkins, Patterson, Laws and Landri can get pressure up the middle, they can beat the Patriots. I think New England will go to no-huddle in order to stop the substitutions on the defensive line.
Juan Castillo needs to have his guys ready for the no-huddle because they’re going to see plenty of it.
G of course the idea is to send pressure up the middle, i would even send blitzes up the middle. But whats obvious to us is not always obvious to andy and the coaches. So lets see who they can out smart this week
Kansas city had them figured out early on. I dont think that brady got warmed up but i think the defense got tired being on the field all game. Same with us. VY enginereed that drive it gave the defense tons of time to rest, so the d line was full bore ready to close down the game.
I don’t think the Eagles will blitz much. We have to find a way to contain the TE position. We are going one of the best in the business and we have always struggled against that position! Let’s just hope our front four can get lots of pressure!
best way to keep brady from scoring 100 pointss is to keep em on the bench… a solid run game from the O would be great. expect the birds to throw 50 times. 4 runs in the second half.
LOL Rev. Our best player is Shadey, you would think he would get a chance to run the ball a little more?? 4 times in the second half…sad but probably true.
Happy Holidays!!
i still say- i brought this up at the start of last season and i wont stop till it happens. The year the falcons went to the NFC champ game (and lost to us) they used Vick in a crazy but cool way. If my memory is right (and its prolly not. Paulman double check this for me will ya sweety)… ATL did not have great recivers… BUT…. they ran a 3 headed run game with Vick, Dun and someone else. They had tight packages in their book that had a powerrunnin feel. Also…. when teams got lazy.. ATL threw it to Crumpler.
I dont want to see us play ATL- repeat… im not saying they scrap what they already do…. but… BUT… BUUUUUTTTT i would love to see them try something like this AT TIMES to slow the game down and slam it down teams throats.
should have read…. “i dont want to see us play LIKE atl DID”.
Good memory Stevo
RB’s were Warrick Dunn and the big lumbering TJ Duckett and combined with VIck rushed over 500 times during the 2004 Season when Vick only threw 400 Passes– Crumpler leading reciever with 50 Catches and WR’s like Peerless Price, Dez White ,B Finneran and RB Dunn all with about 30 receptions each
I’m trying to stay positive about this game…but the D’s weakness is covering the Tight End..and the Pats have arguably the best TE in the game right now..and another serviceable TE. I agree, the best thing is to have long drives, keep the defense fresh and Tom Brady off the field. If they win this week, I’ll say they have a very good chance to run the table. Go Birds!
Pats D has looked better the past two games, but against inferior teams. They can be had if we pass block like last week. Also it did not suck having a QB out there seeing the field over his blockers with that protection.
Stopping the Pats O, not too confident about that.Gronkowski is unstoppable, the next quantum leap at the tight end position in terms of size and speed. Looking forward to what we all hope will be an entertaining game.
Am an Eagles fan living in NE.
Jaqua Parker and Tapp saved the day by not allowing the defensive heat to die when the substitutions happened. I don’t know whether Parker was injured or just not dressed the previous two weeks, but clearly the defensive core needs him. I know Tapp was injured, but it was clear that he gave the defensive unit a surprising boost last year off the bench and early this year when he was healthy.
Hopefully they can get an effective coverage strategy going for the Patriots since no huddle, and quick short releases are what they’re going to get. Obviously Samuel isn’t going to jam anyone, but hopefully jamming receivers will be a big part of the pass coverage plan for this week. Not jamming receivers, in general, with Arizona was a HUGE problem as they used a lot of timing oriented short patterns (similar style to the Patriots offensive play calling.)
hmmmm…I am guessing maybe a sense of urgency, pure desperation,oh and they felt like they had something to prove this week. lol. I just hope they come out swinging again like that this Sunday and can keep it going for 60 full minutes. lol. Almost makes me wish this game was in NE as the Eagles seem to be playing better away than at home.