Devastating loss. The Eagles really should have been the better team out there.
On the big question for the offseason, I basically agree with the Eagles’ brass that McNabb and Reid should be back. I’ll follow with a much more detailed off-season assessment of where the team is and where they might go next month.
For now, let’s take a brief look back at what went wrong on Sunday. Who gets the blame? Mostly the defense. McNabb had an inconsistent, but at times brilliant, game, and the running game was mostly ineffective, but produced some plays when the Eagles needed them. Also the Eagles caught a few bad breaks from the refs (and one good one on a correct, but difficult, call on the kickoff out of bounds late in the first half). With all that, the defense gave up thirty-two points and you just can’t win that way.
Ok, so what happened?
First of all, Larry Fitzgerald happened. Fitzgerald ran some impressive routes, generating natural picks, making unbelievable catches on mediocre throws, and refusing to go down.
Still, the Eagles missed way too many tackles, especially on Edgerinn James in the first half (and obviously on Fitzgerald across the middle on the Cards’ first TD, on which Dawkins blew his coverage assignment).
On the second TD, B-Dawk bit bad on the trick play that Fitzgerald helped sell as run. On that play, Sheldon Brown also got sucked in by the trick play. It should be noted that Mikell was inches from breaking Warner’s throw up and Demps could have had a shot at the ball if he turned correctly. That’s how close this stuff can be.
So Dawkins definitely had a bad day. Stewart Bradley also got caught out of position multiple times, pressing a bit in the run game and being late on coverage assignments, esp. as he may have been too aggressive at trying to sell blitz on plays in which he was dropping back.
Jim Johnson really failed too. The overload blitzes didn’t seem to work, as Warner did a great job getting rid of the ball quickly. Big blitzes, especially those including safeties, also, of course, prevented them from pressing Fitzgerald at scrimmage, which they only rarely did. On almost all of his big catches, Fitzgerald was covered by a corner who started the play playing six to ten yards off, b/c there wasn’t sufficient help for the corner to press.
As for why the offense wasn’t better in the first half, I think B-west wasn’t the same player he usually is, b/c of his health. Westbrook couldn’t make the sorts of out cuts that he normally would, but our offensive linemen also were outplayed in the running game, on several plays missing blocks on safeties running downhill.
Tra Thomas had a very mediocre game, struggling especially against speed, such as with blitzing safeties in both the pass and run games. Herremans made similar mistakes, both of them also seemed confused at points by Cardinals twists and stunts to their side of the line.
I do criticize Reid, also, for not having B-West on the field more. Even if he can’t carry so much, he’s such an important decoy that he really needs to be on the field in many more key situations than he was.
As for McNabb, Donovan missed some key 3rd down throws in the first half, but he was absolutely amazing in the third and early in the 4th quarter with those nasty throws to Curtis, Celek, and Jackson. Several of his throws to Celek were actually incredible stick throws in very tight zone coverage. Celek and Jackson both deserve praise for some quite excellent games, and they gave us reason to be optimistic for the future of this passing game. Jackson will really be an interesting player to watch going forward. His hustle and speed were especially on display in the first quarter play in which he came from behind to force a fumble after the Cardinals had intercepted McNabb several yards upfield from the route Jackson had been running.
In addition to Celek and Jackson, I want to give a shout-out to Victor Abiamiri, who made some nice plays by forcing an incompletion on a key 3rd down, and a sack on another third down, along with at least one nice play against the run. I’m excited about Abiamiri’s future lining up as nickel tackle.
Here is a brief look at one instance of offensive failure followed by defensive failure in the first half—when the Eagles put up a field goal and the Cards followed with a TD. On the drive that led to the Eagles’ second successful field goal drive (making the score 14-6), after a nice six yard first down run by Buckhalter, with 2nd and 4 from about the Arizona 13, the Eagles threw a wide receiver screen to Greg Lewis that lost two yards. That play was mostly on Andy (first of all why Greg Lewis), as safety Antrel Rolle sniffed out the screen and left his man (Avant I think) to quickly cover up that screen and tackle Lewis. McNabb’s throw also was too low for an effective screen.
On the next play, 3rd and 6, there should have been a pass interference call when Cardinals corner Ralph Brown hung on Avant.
Then on the third Cardinals TD, the Eagles had single coverage on Fitzgerald on the outside every play down near the goal line. That’s why Samuels was forced to interfere on the goal line, and that was why Fitzgerald scored on the fade the next play—I just don’t get it Jim, let them beat you with someone else, and on the fade opportunity—why Sheldon? He’s never been great at defending fades (How many times have we seen Plax out-jump Sheldon or Lito on a fade?)
We all know what happened in the third quarter and the first third of the fourth. Donovan was impressive.
But after the offense took back over the game and took the lead at 10:45 in the fourth quarter, the defense just couldn’t get off the field.
On the 4th and inches play, it has been widely noticed that strong safety Quintin Mikell couldn’t get off the fullback, but I’m not sure that was really his job. Dawkins, Bradley, and Gocong misread the play as a run up the middle so that Mikell was left as the only man out on the edge and would have had to make a spectacular play to get off Tyrelle Smith’s block, which Mikell still almost did. Two plays later, Fitzgerald beat Asante in single coverage. There was no opportunity for him to press, b/c B-Dawk had to play centerfield alone, since the Eagles overloaded blitzing the left side of the Cards O, including bringing Mikell on a blitz that didn’t even get to the defensive line by the time the throw was off.
On Hightower’s subsequent conversion of a third and one, Bradley missed a tackle, and Quintin Demps got out of position and couldn’t get upfield to help Bradley.
The Hightower screen for the go-ahead touchdown three plays later was also mainly on Bradley for missing a tackle and Demps for taking a bad angle.
Either Bradley or Mikell misread their coverage assignment on the two point conversion.
Since we’re talking about why this team failed, let’s also looks that the offense’s four straight incompletes from the Eagles forty-seven yard line.
1st down, ok read by Donovan, Baskett slips
2nd down, overthrow by Donovan, I think he may have been making sure he could get it over a linebacker in the middle, but if he needed to throw it that high, he should have tried to hit Curtis behind Jackson. Curtis was just as open.
3rd down, just a bad throw by McNabb under some pressure. The throw was behind Baskett, but McNabb could have had a couple other guys also. Jackson was wide open, but McNabb probably couldn’t get the ball across his body b/c of confusion in protection by Eagles three interior linemen.
The 4th down play was beautifully designed, with a eight-yard drag route in front of Curtis, enabling Curtis to maintain a one-on-one matchup on the outside. The throw was good enough if not perfect. I really do think there was pass interference on an otherwise good play by the Eagles.
Stay tuned for multiple offseason posts btw now and the draft.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Preview of Sunday's Game at Arizona, 1-18-09
For Sunday's game, the Eagles are road favorites in the desert. The Eagles, here, are the better team, and they should win. Obviously, the Cardinals won last week because of their ability to create turnovers (or their luck at getting them depending on your perspective). First of all, Donovan McNabb is not Jake Delhomme, who gifted the Cards at least three of those turnovers. For the Eagles to win, though, it goes without saying, that we need to win the turnover battle (or be even or possibly lose it by only one). Aside from the turnovers, this game is going to be about controlling the middle of the field. The Cards D is vulnerable in the middle, and Kurt Warner is susceptible to making bad decisions when faced with pressure up the middle. Control the middle of the field on both sides of the ball and the Eagles win the game. Below are more specific keys to the Game.
1. The first key to this game is offensive. This Cards offense is too potent to expect to hold them below 20 (and the weather won't assist the defense in 75 degree Tempe either). The offense will need to eat up clock and put up points. They will do this by running the football. This defense has a nice secondary and a couple good pass rushers, but they can be run on. The Eagles must committ to the run, whether it be with Westbrook or Buckhalter, at least until the Cards are forced to bring an eigth man down into the box, at which point, it's play fake city on these backers.
2. Pressure up the gut on Warner. Warner has been excellent against the blitz this season, but I still think we need to blitz him. That said, I think it needs to come from up the middle. Look for Bradley and Gocong and Clemons to have some A-Gap blitzes. If Abiamiri and Howard can have a strong game and get inside pressure in nickel situations, look for Warner to make mistakes. He cannot make plays on the move. Put pressure in his face and he'll start making bad decisions or at least be forced to his checkdowns (at which point, see key #4).
3. Use the middle of the field in the passing game. Some of this is design: Let's have route combinations that are forcing the Cards LB's to cover our slot receivers, TE's, and Westbrook running up the seam. I believe we can win on those plays consistently if McNabb has protection enough for these routes to develop. This team's pressure packages won't be too exotic, so we can leave in one back or one TE to block and then put together some route combos that force their linebackers to show up in coverage in the middle of the field. Ultimately, this comes down to McNabb being patient and making good decisions, like he did in the third and fourth quarters of the Giants game.
4. Wrap up and tackle. This team has been tackling great all season, and it needs to continue against the Cards who have some of the best run after the catch receivers in the league in Larry Fitz, Boldin, and Breaston, not to mention a rejuvenated Edgerrin James. Larry will have a couple downfield catches. He's just too good not to (that catch down the left sideline against the Panthers was a sick a ball adjustment in the air as I've ever seen), but the key with him, as with the others is to limit the rac yards by wrapping up and tackling in the open field. This is especially important b/c Kurt Warner, for all his faults, has always excelled at throwing a very catchable ball that is in a place where the receiver can quickly turn upfield after the catch.
5. Stop the running game with 7 men in the box. The rejuvenation of the Cards running game has been much overstated. This Eagle defense should be able to, and needs to be able to, slow down the redbirds' running without leaving the Cards WRs undercovered and risking big plays out of play action. In effect, we need to recognize that we can't be as agressive against the run against this team as we could against the Plaxless Giants (Incidentally, I'm not sure if I mentioned here yet, but I really do think his nightclub shenanigans may very well have cost the Giants a second Super Bowl--they were a totally different team, and probably the best in the league, when they had him). While we'll need to cheat help over to Fitzgerald, fortunately, this team's running offense is not like the Giants'. We should be able to beat these guys with a seven man front on first and second down.
6. Protect McNabb's blind side. DE Bert Berry has been impressive lately. No sack-fumbles please.
1. The first key to this game is offensive. This Cards offense is too potent to expect to hold them below 20 (and the weather won't assist the defense in 75 degree Tempe either). The offense will need to eat up clock and put up points. They will do this by running the football. This defense has a nice secondary and a couple good pass rushers, but they can be run on. The Eagles must committ to the run, whether it be with Westbrook or Buckhalter, at least until the Cards are forced to bring an eigth man down into the box, at which point, it's play fake city on these backers.
2. Pressure up the gut on Warner. Warner has been excellent against the blitz this season, but I still think we need to blitz him. That said, I think it needs to come from up the middle. Look for Bradley and Gocong and Clemons to have some A-Gap blitzes. If Abiamiri and Howard can have a strong game and get inside pressure in nickel situations, look for Warner to make mistakes. He cannot make plays on the move. Put pressure in his face and he'll start making bad decisions or at least be forced to his checkdowns (at which point, see key #4).
3. Use the middle of the field in the passing game. Some of this is design: Let's have route combinations that are forcing the Cards LB's to cover our slot receivers, TE's, and Westbrook running up the seam. I believe we can win on those plays consistently if McNabb has protection enough for these routes to develop. This team's pressure packages won't be too exotic, so we can leave in one back or one TE to block and then put together some route combos that force their linebackers to show up in coverage in the middle of the field. Ultimately, this comes down to McNabb being patient and making good decisions, like he did in the third and fourth quarters of the Giants game.
4. Wrap up and tackle. This team has been tackling great all season, and it needs to continue against the Cards who have some of the best run after the catch receivers in the league in Larry Fitz, Boldin, and Breaston, not to mention a rejuvenated Edgerrin James. Larry will have a couple downfield catches. He's just too good not to (that catch down the left sideline against the Panthers was a sick a ball adjustment in the air as I've ever seen), but the key with him, as with the others is to limit the rac yards by wrapping up and tackling in the open field. This is especially important b/c Kurt Warner, for all his faults, has always excelled at throwing a very catchable ball that is in a place where the receiver can quickly turn upfield after the catch.
5. Stop the running game with 7 men in the box. The rejuvenation of the Cards running game has been much overstated. This Eagle defense should be able to, and needs to be able to, slow down the redbirds' running without leaving the Cards WRs undercovered and risking big plays out of play action. In effect, we need to recognize that we can't be as agressive against the run against this team as we could against the Plaxless Giants (Incidentally, I'm not sure if I mentioned here yet, but I really do think his nightclub shenanigans may very well have cost the Giants a second Super Bowl--they were a totally different team, and probably the best in the league, when they had him). While we'll need to cheat help over to Fitzgerald, fortunately, this team's running offense is not like the Giants'. We should be able to beat these guys with a seven man front on first and second down.
6. Protect McNabb's blind side. DE Bert Berry has been impressive lately. No sack-fumbles please.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Giants Game Recap, Analysis of Three Key Defensive Stops (Plus, what you didn't notice about how Quintin Mikell helped win the game)
Kudos to Andy Reid, Jim Johnson, et. al. for a great game plan. I liked the early commitment to the run, which I do believe helped keep the Giants defense honest later in the game even as pass-happy Andy took over. I’m surprised we were able to be so successful without an early lead, but I do think that Samuel’s INT helped keep a lot of pressure off the defense (and thankfully Andy called a QB sneak). Also, the lengthy 3rd quarter drives by the Eagles, even though the first resulted in a field goal, kept the Eagles D and Brandon Jacobs off the field, so that the defense was fresh when they needed big stops in the 4th quarter. The Eagles obviously won this game with defense, but they also won because Donovan McNabb outplayed Eli (who missed more than a few wide open receivers in the first half), and like the Donovan of old, he did it when they needed it most with some big plays with his legs in the Eagles’ time-consuming field goal drive early in the third quarter, in which McNabb extended his time on big 3rd and 20 and 3rd and 10 passes to Avant and Buck. That said, my blog post is going to concentrate on D. While a few Eagle defenses have held opponents to fewer points, in the Super Bowl era, only the 1991 Buddy Ryan-constructed, Rich Kotite-coached, Jim McMahon-quarterbacked 10-6 team that missed the playoffs held opponents to fewer yards than this year’s team. While Jim Johnson’s defenses have so long been praised for "bending but not breaking", allowing field goals but not touchdowns, it sure does help the offense that this defense doesn’t bend so much, and gets off the field. Furthermore, this defense since Thanksgiving has neither bent nor broke, as evidenced by the paltry 10.8 points opponents have scored against the Eagles in the last six games (not to mention the points the D has set up with 12 takeaways in those games). Instead of reiterating whatever has been said in the Inky, the Daily News, or by Ray Didinger, I’m going to use this post to break down a couple big stops.
Anatomy of a Stop, #1
The Setting: Giants start the game with great momentum after Bradshaw’s 65 yd return of the opening kickoff. The Giants then convert a 4th and 2 at the Eagles 27 and then follow that up one play later with a pass to tight end Darcy Johnson that sets up the Giants with a first and 10 from the 11, with under 3 minutes played.
1st and 10 from the 11: Giants run Brandon Jacobs off tackle to the right. Brian Dawkins stops him for two-yard gain. Like all good run stops, this play was made by the line and linebackers holding the point of attack. No Giants blocker had an opportunity to block two Eagles. Blitzing linebackers Bradley and Jordan tied up the middle of the Giant’s line and eliminated any possible cutback and Chris Gocong did a nice job of taking on Giants Right Tackle Kareem MacKenzie. Quintin Mikell then flew in from around the tackle and did a great job of taking out fullback Madison Hedgecock (This, incidentally, would be a trend throughout the game). Dawkins read the play correctly, immediately started flowing left from the opposite hash mark, and by the time Jacobs reached the only available hole, Dawkins filled it and wrapped him up.
2nd and 8 from the 9: Giants attempt to run Jacobs behind the right guard, dropped for no gain. Mike Patterson just pushes the center of the Giants line back. There is basically nowhere to go for Jacobs. Victor Abiamiri (long-touted as a way to shore up our run defense from the DE position) makes a great play pushing back his blocker to help collapse Jacobs’s running lanes and then disengaging to make the tackle. Like on the last play Mikell came into the backfield with impressive speed to take Hedgecock out of the play.
3rd and 8 from the 9: Giants pass in the flat to Derrick Ward, stopped by Stewart Bradley for a five yard gain. This play was really all Bradley. The route combination on the left side for the Giants was designed to clear the defensive backs out with two end zone routes (which the DBs covered well) behind Bradley and potentially pick him with Toomer’s route (which just missed doing so) and then challenge Bradley to cover Ward one on one. Bradley read the route correctly from the very beginning and speedily covered hash mark to sideline in the nick of time to wrap up Ward a little shy of the first down. An assist goes out to Trent Cole whose bull rush may have slightly rushed Eli’s decision, although the throw was pretty good. Still, on film it looks like a crossing Steve Smith might have had a better chance of eluding a Dawkins tackle than Ward did that of Bradley, but manning lacked the time to look back to the center of the field.
From the five yard line, the Giants were forced to settle for a field goal with 9:59 to go in the first quarter.
Anatomy of a Stop, #2
Setting: Eli throws his best pass of the day on a 3rd and 5 from the Giants 36 to Domenik Hixon on the Eagles 30. The Giants then have to call a time out with the playclock winding down. On 1st and 10, Eli makes a lousy throw to Hixon in the flat, after a play fake that leaves him with plenty of time to throw but strong coverage leaving him nowhere else to throw the ball.
2nd and 10 from the Eagles 30, 5:16 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Eagles 13 Giants 11:
Giants have single back and two tight ends, Eagles lined up in base personnel and Giants call a run to Jacobs again off right tackle (strong side) and pull a guard from the left to block for Jacobs. The Eagles linemen all get a good jump off the ball and get their bodies moving laterally in the direction of the play. Quintin Mikell, lined up in the box, comes up and engages the pulling left guard to seal the edge. Chris Gocong makes a great play to get off a block by OT Kareem MacKenizie and then pushes TE Kevin Boss and Stewart Bradley (with whom Boss is now engaged) out of the way so Gocong can pull down Jacobs after only a one yard gain.
3rd and 9 from the Eagles 29:
Giants in splitbacks, three wide. Eagles lined up in the nickel, with a three man line and with Bradley, Clemons, and Jordan at linebacker. Pre-snap, Clemons lines up directly over center and Akeem Jordan crawls down to Darren Howard’s (at left DE) outside shoulder. As the ball is being snapped, Mikell begins to sprint downhill on the same side. Each member of the Eagles line (plus Clemons) slants leftward, and RDE Trent Cole peels off into coverage. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw (to Eli’s right) picks up Jordan on the blitz and Mikell comes free flushing Eli to his left. Forced, to unload the ball quickly he finds Ward coming out of the left side (the direction Eli is rolling) of the Giants backfield. Trent Cole, who had rolled into coverage came across and dragged down Ward at the 27 before he could secure possession of the football. The Giants were forced to attempt a 47 yard John Carney field goal, which went short and to the left with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter, giving the Giants no points to show for Eli’s beautiful play action pass earlier in the drive and leaving the Eagles great field position, which would ultimately lead to a Brent Celek touchdown, giving the Eagles a 20-11 lead on the opening play of the final quarter.
Anatomy of a Stop, #3
Setting: Score is 20-11 when the Giants start on their own 10 with just over 10 minutes to go. Derrick Ward has two long runs and a third for a first down to set up the Giants with first and 10 from their own 38. On first down, Manning finds Toomer on a crossing route for seven yards.
2nd and 3 from the Giants 45: Giants lined up three wide, single back, eagles in the nickel. Giants run Jacobs up the middle and the Eagles line (Parker, Bunkley, Patterson, Cole) totally bottles up the play forcing Jacobs to bounce it out to the outside shoulder of the left tackle. The line play gives Dawkins plenty of time to come down from about ten yards deep and wrap up Jacobs for a minimal gain.
3rd and 3 from the Giants 45: Giants direct snap to Ward. The defense reads it correctly and stretches out towards the sideline. The Giants blocking scheme seems to get confused by the fact that the Eagles have lined up Trent Cole as a joker directly over Juqua Parker’s left shoulder. Parker makes a nice spin to avoid Giants OT MacKenzie, who seems to have misread his assignment and focused on Bunkley. Parker was then left blocked only by diminutive receiver Domenik Hixon, whom Parker easily dispatched and then brought down the ball carrier for a one yard gain. Cole, incidentally does a great job of blowing up a pulling guard and getting to the ball—he prob. would have made the play if Parker hadn’t.
4th and 2 from the Giants 46: This of course was one of the absolute key plays of the game, snapping with only 6:36 left on the game clock. The Giants decided to stop being cute and lined up in an I-formation and gave the rock to Jacobs. As in other key stops, Quintin Mikell knifed through to engage Hedgecock and take him out of the play, burning by Steve Smith’s weak attempt at chipping Mikell. The Eagles knew what was coming, and they got incredible push from their front four, with Bunkley leading the way. Bunkley’s feet could not be moved further than a half-yard beyond the line of scrimmage. Also, the linebackers came with great force, helping to keep the Giants from pushing the pile forward—on the replay you can see Akeem Jordan and Bradley helping Bunkley maintain his place clogging the middle.
If the Eagle D, especially the line, can play like it did on these series, we’ll have a lot to be excited about next week at Arizona. A brief entry on that game will follow later this week. Through breaking down these plays, it becomes clear that the play, and versatiliy, of the line was key to the Eagles victory. Equally important was the improvement in the lateral movement of the linebackers on both run and pass plays. One key strategy was the use of Mikell repeatedly to take out the opposing fullback on running plays. It will be interesting to see if they use him this way again against another strong run-blocker in Tyrelle Smith.
Anatomy of a Stop, #1
The Setting: Giants start the game with great momentum after Bradshaw’s 65 yd return of the opening kickoff. The Giants then convert a 4th and 2 at the Eagles 27 and then follow that up one play later with a pass to tight end Darcy Johnson that sets up the Giants with a first and 10 from the 11, with under 3 minutes played.
1st and 10 from the 11: Giants run Brandon Jacobs off tackle to the right. Brian Dawkins stops him for two-yard gain. Like all good run stops, this play was made by the line and linebackers holding the point of attack. No Giants blocker had an opportunity to block two Eagles. Blitzing linebackers Bradley and Jordan tied up the middle of the Giant’s line and eliminated any possible cutback and Chris Gocong did a nice job of taking on Giants Right Tackle Kareem MacKenzie. Quintin Mikell then flew in from around the tackle and did a great job of taking out fullback Madison Hedgecock (This, incidentally, would be a trend throughout the game). Dawkins read the play correctly, immediately started flowing left from the opposite hash mark, and by the time Jacobs reached the only available hole, Dawkins filled it and wrapped him up.
2nd and 8 from the 9: Giants attempt to run Jacobs behind the right guard, dropped for no gain. Mike Patterson just pushes the center of the Giants line back. There is basically nowhere to go for Jacobs. Victor Abiamiri (long-touted as a way to shore up our run defense from the DE position) makes a great play pushing back his blocker to help collapse Jacobs’s running lanes and then disengaging to make the tackle. Like on the last play Mikell came into the backfield with impressive speed to take Hedgecock out of the play.
3rd and 8 from the 9: Giants pass in the flat to Derrick Ward, stopped by Stewart Bradley for a five yard gain. This play was really all Bradley. The route combination on the left side for the Giants was designed to clear the defensive backs out with two end zone routes (which the DBs covered well) behind Bradley and potentially pick him with Toomer’s route (which just missed doing so) and then challenge Bradley to cover Ward one on one. Bradley read the route correctly from the very beginning and speedily covered hash mark to sideline in the nick of time to wrap up Ward a little shy of the first down. An assist goes out to Trent Cole whose bull rush may have slightly rushed Eli’s decision, although the throw was pretty good. Still, on film it looks like a crossing Steve Smith might have had a better chance of eluding a Dawkins tackle than Ward did that of Bradley, but manning lacked the time to look back to the center of the field.
From the five yard line, the Giants were forced to settle for a field goal with 9:59 to go in the first quarter.
Anatomy of a Stop, #2
Setting: Eli throws his best pass of the day on a 3rd and 5 from the Giants 36 to Domenik Hixon on the Eagles 30. The Giants then have to call a time out with the playclock winding down. On 1st and 10, Eli makes a lousy throw to Hixon in the flat, after a play fake that leaves him with plenty of time to throw but strong coverage leaving him nowhere else to throw the ball.
2nd and 10 from the Eagles 30, 5:16 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Eagles 13 Giants 11:
Giants have single back and two tight ends, Eagles lined up in base personnel and Giants call a run to Jacobs again off right tackle (strong side) and pull a guard from the left to block for Jacobs. The Eagles linemen all get a good jump off the ball and get their bodies moving laterally in the direction of the play. Quintin Mikell, lined up in the box, comes up and engages the pulling left guard to seal the edge. Chris Gocong makes a great play to get off a block by OT Kareem MacKenizie and then pushes TE Kevin Boss and Stewart Bradley (with whom Boss is now engaged) out of the way so Gocong can pull down Jacobs after only a one yard gain.
3rd and 9 from the Eagles 29:
Giants in splitbacks, three wide. Eagles lined up in the nickel, with a three man line and with Bradley, Clemons, and Jordan at linebacker. Pre-snap, Clemons lines up directly over center and Akeem Jordan crawls down to Darren Howard’s (at left DE) outside shoulder. As the ball is being snapped, Mikell begins to sprint downhill on the same side. Each member of the Eagles line (plus Clemons) slants leftward, and RDE Trent Cole peels off into coverage. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw (to Eli’s right) picks up Jordan on the blitz and Mikell comes free flushing Eli to his left. Forced, to unload the ball quickly he finds Ward coming out of the left side (the direction Eli is rolling) of the Giants backfield. Trent Cole, who had rolled into coverage came across and dragged down Ward at the 27 before he could secure possession of the football. The Giants were forced to attempt a 47 yard John Carney field goal, which went short and to the left with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter, giving the Giants no points to show for Eli’s beautiful play action pass earlier in the drive and leaving the Eagles great field position, which would ultimately lead to a Brent Celek touchdown, giving the Eagles a 20-11 lead on the opening play of the final quarter.
Anatomy of a Stop, #3
Setting: Score is 20-11 when the Giants start on their own 10 with just over 10 minutes to go. Derrick Ward has two long runs and a third for a first down to set up the Giants with first and 10 from their own 38. On first down, Manning finds Toomer on a crossing route for seven yards.
2nd and 3 from the Giants 45: Giants lined up three wide, single back, eagles in the nickel. Giants run Jacobs up the middle and the Eagles line (Parker, Bunkley, Patterson, Cole) totally bottles up the play forcing Jacobs to bounce it out to the outside shoulder of the left tackle. The line play gives Dawkins plenty of time to come down from about ten yards deep and wrap up Jacobs for a minimal gain.
3rd and 3 from the Giants 45: Giants direct snap to Ward. The defense reads it correctly and stretches out towards the sideline. The Giants blocking scheme seems to get confused by the fact that the Eagles have lined up Trent Cole as a joker directly over Juqua Parker’s left shoulder. Parker makes a nice spin to avoid Giants OT MacKenzie, who seems to have misread his assignment and focused on Bunkley. Parker was then left blocked only by diminutive receiver Domenik Hixon, whom Parker easily dispatched and then brought down the ball carrier for a one yard gain. Cole, incidentally does a great job of blowing up a pulling guard and getting to the ball—he prob. would have made the play if Parker hadn’t.
4th and 2 from the Giants 46: This of course was one of the absolute key plays of the game, snapping with only 6:36 left on the game clock. The Giants decided to stop being cute and lined up in an I-formation and gave the rock to Jacobs. As in other key stops, Quintin Mikell knifed through to engage Hedgecock and take him out of the play, burning by Steve Smith’s weak attempt at chipping Mikell. The Eagles knew what was coming, and they got incredible push from their front four, with Bunkley leading the way. Bunkley’s feet could not be moved further than a half-yard beyond the line of scrimmage. Also, the linebackers came with great force, helping to keep the Giants from pushing the pile forward—on the replay you can see Akeem Jordan and Bradley helping Bunkley maintain his place clogging the middle.
If the Eagle D, especially the line, can play like it did on these series, we’ll have a lot to be excited about next week at Arizona. A brief entry on that game will follow later this week. Through breaking down these plays, it becomes clear that the play, and versatiliy, of the line was key to the Eagles victory. Equally important was the improvement in the lateral movement of the linebackers on both run and pass plays. One key strategy was the use of Mikell repeatedly to take out the opposing fullback on running plays. It will be interesting to see if they use him this way again against another strong run-blocker in Tyrelle Smith.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Eagles v. Giants, Sunday 1/1/09
First of all, let me say how excited I am that you are reading the first post of this blog, which I hope to continue through next season. I wanted to get one in before Sunday's game.
The Eagles face off against the Giants sunday in what figures to be an icy, windy game with snow or sleet still possible at game time. Below I look at some of the keys to the game for the eagles.
1. The most important factor in this game for both teams will be Red Zone and Pink Zone (40 to the goal line) productivity. Neither team has been particularly strong in the Red Zone and weather conditions, coupled with the usual swirling winds in the craphole that is Giant Stadium, are likely to cause problems for the kicking game. For the Eagles I'd like to see quick passes, let the outside guys clear out the safeties and bring the slot receivers, B-west, Buck, and Celek across the middle where they can get some rac. The eagles need to continue to shut down opponents' TE's in the red zone and they need to be careful about staying disciplined against screen or draw plays to Ward. Also on less than 1 yard situations, please please please sneak McNabb.
2. RUN THE BALL. Last week Andy showed impressive discipline by sticking to the run even when B-West was averaging under 2 yards per carry. It is imperative that the play-calling continues to maintain some degree of balance to limit the Giants' ability to anticipate pass. The extra half step the Eagle offensive players can gain by forcing the Giants to analyze pass v. run will be crucial. Additionally this will hopefully open up some opportunities for play action pass. With the weather conditions, I'd like to see the play action used to set up some 10 or 20 yard in-breaking routes over the middle of the field instead of for deep go-routes. If they can run with some effectiveness, they should be able to get the Giants safeties (who are just average) to bite on play action and leave the seam open for some of our faster receivers (like Curtis or Jackson).
3. Click Early on Offense (and get touchdowns early). Brandon Jacobs is an average running back in this league. He does not cut that well and his field vision is average, but he wears defenses down. Like Marion Barber, he gets more effective as the game goes on. To shut down Jacobs, the eagles need to force the giants into throwing situations in the second half and limit Jacobs's carries as the defense grows tired. An early lead will help with this.
4. Beat the Giants receivers in Man-Coverage. The Giants have been without their best (if most idiotic) skill player for the last quarter of the season. This Giants team is not as good as the team that won it all last year. They miss Strahan and Osi, but the biggest difference is Plax. Plax completley changed what defenses could do against the Giants. Now the eagles don't have to worry about him; they can blitz much more if our corners can man-up against Hixon, Toomer, and Smith, and Mikell can take Boss out of the game. More importantly though, success in man coverage will enable us to shut down the running game by playing B-Dawk as an 8th man in the box. B-Dawk has experienced a resurrection in his career in the past two months, as has been widely noted. What no one seems to talk about, however, is how much his position has changed. Gone are the days of Dawkins coming from twenty yards across the field to separate a downfield receiver from a deep-ball (but that's ok, when Samuel, Brown, Mikell, and Hanson, are playing like beasts in coverage). Instead Jim Johnson has done a masterful job of redeploying B-Dawk up close to the line of scrimmage, where his punishing hitting, nose for the ball, ad general football instincts have once again made him an incredible asset to this defense and a player that opposing offenses once again have to account for, and often fear. If the Eagles can handle the G-men receivers in man coverage, we can blitz on passing downs and keep using B-Dawk as a hybrid d-back/linebacker in possible running situations, and this will make it very difficult for the Gaints to establish an offensive rhythm.
5. Make it impossible for the Giants to get pressure from the front four only. If the eagles do this as well as they did in the last game at the Meadowlands, Donovan should be able to pick apart the giants back 7.
6. Eagles DT play, plus Trent Cole. The starting DTs and Trent Cole have commanded such extra blocking help that they have opened all sorts of things up in the running game for blitizing Lb's and for B-Dawk. Bunkley has been a beast, regularly eating up two blockers and still holding the point of attack. Bradley, Jordan, and Gocong flow nicely to the ball, but it has been the line play that has made this team so much better at defending the run than last year's and especially the team from two years ago that lost to the Saints b/c of their run defense. On passing downs, Cole continuing to be dominant coupled with continued strong pressure up the middle from Howard and hopefully Abiamiri will force Eli to move around more than he would like in the pocket and hopefully produce errant throws. (A couple drops like the one by Hixon in the first quarter of the last game would help too).
7. Do not overpursue against Derrick Ward. Derrick Ward is a good, shifty weapon on screens and draws. Bradley and Gocong need to be careful not to overpursue. On the long A.P. TD last week Bradley hit the b-gap blitz too hard, but even more problematically, Gocong seriously overpursued (watch him on the end zone camera replay if you have the game on tape) and dove to make a tackle. When Gocong missed, he left the whole middle of the field open for Peterson.
8. As always win the turnover battle and win on special teams. If Rocca, Demps, and Jackson keep doing how they been, the latter should not be a problem.
Everyone enjoy the game. Go birds!
E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!
The Eagles face off against the Giants sunday in what figures to be an icy, windy game with snow or sleet still possible at game time. Below I look at some of the keys to the game for the eagles.
1. The most important factor in this game for both teams will be Red Zone and Pink Zone (40 to the goal line) productivity. Neither team has been particularly strong in the Red Zone and weather conditions, coupled with the usual swirling winds in the craphole that is Giant Stadium, are likely to cause problems for the kicking game. For the Eagles I'd like to see quick passes, let the outside guys clear out the safeties and bring the slot receivers, B-west, Buck, and Celek across the middle where they can get some rac. The eagles need to continue to shut down opponents' TE's in the red zone and they need to be careful about staying disciplined against screen or draw plays to Ward. Also on less than 1 yard situations, please please please sneak McNabb.
2. RUN THE BALL. Last week Andy showed impressive discipline by sticking to the run even when B-West was averaging under 2 yards per carry. It is imperative that the play-calling continues to maintain some degree of balance to limit the Giants' ability to anticipate pass. The extra half step the Eagle offensive players can gain by forcing the Giants to analyze pass v. run will be crucial. Additionally this will hopefully open up some opportunities for play action pass. With the weather conditions, I'd like to see the play action used to set up some 10 or 20 yard in-breaking routes over the middle of the field instead of for deep go-routes. If they can run with some effectiveness, they should be able to get the Giants safeties (who are just average) to bite on play action and leave the seam open for some of our faster receivers (like Curtis or Jackson).
3. Click Early on Offense (and get touchdowns early). Brandon Jacobs is an average running back in this league. He does not cut that well and his field vision is average, but he wears defenses down. Like Marion Barber, he gets more effective as the game goes on. To shut down Jacobs, the eagles need to force the giants into throwing situations in the second half and limit Jacobs's carries as the defense grows tired. An early lead will help with this.
4. Beat the Giants receivers in Man-Coverage. The Giants have been without their best (if most idiotic) skill player for the last quarter of the season. This Giants team is not as good as the team that won it all last year. They miss Strahan and Osi, but the biggest difference is Plax. Plax completley changed what defenses could do against the Giants. Now the eagles don't have to worry about him; they can blitz much more if our corners can man-up against Hixon, Toomer, and Smith, and Mikell can take Boss out of the game. More importantly though, success in man coverage will enable us to shut down the running game by playing B-Dawk as an 8th man in the box. B-Dawk has experienced a resurrection in his career in the past two months, as has been widely noted. What no one seems to talk about, however, is how much his position has changed. Gone are the days of Dawkins coming from twenty yards across the field to separate a downfield receiver from a deep-ball (but that's ok, when Samuel, Brown, Mikell, and Hanson, are playing like beasts in coverage). Instead Jim Johnson has done a masterful job of redeploying B-Dawk up close to the line of scrimmage, where his punishing hitting, nose for the ball, ad general football instincts have once again made him an incredible asset to this defense and a player that opposing offenses once again have to account for, and often fear. If the Eagles can handle the G-men receivers in man coverage, we can blitz on passing downs and keep using B-Dawk as a hybrid d-back/linebacker in possible running situations, and this will make it very difficult for the Gaints to establish an offensive rhythm.
5. Make it impossible for the Giants to get pressure from the front four only. If the eagles do this as well as they did in the last game at the Meadowlands, Donovan should be able to pick apart the giants back 7.
6. Eagles DT play, plus Trent Cole. The starting DTs and Trent Cole have commanded such extra blocking help that they have opened all sorts of things up in the running game for blitizing Lb's and for B-Dawk. Bunkley has been a beast, regularly eating up two blockers and still holding the point of attack. Bradley, Jordan, and Gocong flow nicely to the ball, but it has been the line play that has made this team so much better at defending the run than last year's and especially the team from two years ago that lost to the Saints b/c of their run defense. On passing downs, Cole continuing to be dominant coupled with continued strong pressure up the middle from Howard and hopefully Abiamiri will force Eli to move around more than he would like in the pocket and hopefully produce errant throws. (A couple drops like the one by Hixon in the first quarter of the last game would help too).
7. Do not overpursue against Derrick Ward. Derrick Ward is a good, shifty weapon on screens and draws. Bradley and Gocong need to be careful not to overpursue. On the long A.P. TD last week Bradley hit the b-gap blitz too hard, but even more problematically, Gocong seriously overpursued (watch him on the end zone camera replay if you have the game on tape) and dove to make a tackle. When Gocong missed, he left the whole middle of the field open for Peterson.
8. As always win the turnover battle and win on special teams. If Rocca, Demps, and Jackson keep doing how they been, the latter should not be a problem.
Everyone enjoy the game. Go birds!
E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)