The Eagles have got to take advantage of the tremendous amount of "tweeners" they have on their defense. When I say "tweeners" I'm talking about big athletes, who can both rush the passer and play pass coverage. They are the keys to dominating defenses in 2007-8.
Bill Belichick of the Patriots and Rex Ryan of the Baltimore Ravens have mastered the ability to keep offenses guessing and disguise the defense with tweeners. Guys like Trent Cole, Juqua Thomas, Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley and Takeo Spikes have exhibited the ability to rush the passer and beat blockers, as well as, drop back into a zone or cover a back or tight end in man to man coverage.
The key to defense in the NFL is pressure on the quarterback. I've seen all these guys show versatility as football players. Jim Johnson must do change more things in his defense to take advantage of these guys abilities. There no reason the Eagles should be at the bottom of the league in turnovers. Takeaways are one of the keys to winning football in the NFL. Jim's defense has played well except for this area.
If he will utilize all these guys as both pass rushers and defenders, it will keep offenses off balance and allow the Birds to force more mistakes. The Eagles have too many good athetes in their front seven, to allow offenses to dictate to them what they want to do. The Eagles should be doing more of the dictating. I've seen Johnson start to move in this direction but he's got to do more of it.
There should be more times where Gocong and blitzing and somebody else is dropping into coverage. Now that Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patteson have proven that they can handle the run, it's up to Jim to utilize all his talent to show many looks to the offense.
