• March 28, 2024

It’s Still Early, But This Defense Is Definitely Faster And More Aggressive

I can’t guarantee that the Eagles are going to have a better defense than they had a year ago, but I can promise that they will be faster and more aggressive.  Their additions on the defensive line, linebackers and secondary are for the most part faster players who are also more aggressive than the guys who were in those spots a year ago.

The more aggressive claim for rookie safety Nate Allen is debatable, but he’s clearly faster than the safeties they had lining up with Quintin Mikell last year.

Rookie defensive end Brandon Graham is a better pass rusher than anybody they had on the roster a year ago, short of Trent Cole.  This young man has a lot to learn but he’s faster, more powerful and has better technique than the guys he’s replacing.  If he continues to work hard, learn and get better, his presence should allow them to get consistent pressure without blitzing and that will make the secondary better immediately.

I don’t know what they’re going to get from Trevor Laws, Daniel Te’o Nesheim and the rest of the inside pass rushers.

In the first two games I can see that the Birds have shown that they’re a more aggressive unit by the personnel changes at linebacker.  The addition of Stewart Bradley and Ernie Sims have made noticeable differences.

This past Friday, Bradley, Sims and Akeem Jordan were all active in controlling a very good Cincinnati running game.   The defensive tackles, Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley did a good job keeping them free.

I can’t say enough about how much a difference Bradley makes.   First of all, he’s big and very athletic.  I’ve also noticed that he’s been on the attack, when he reads run.  He’s making it a point to play downhill which will make the Eagles a better team versus the run.

I loved the shot he put on Chad Ocho Cinco this past week.  He faked a blitz then took off directly at Ocho Cinco who was running a curl route.  Bradley ran straight through Ocho Cinco and left him thinking that he was really Batman.

Bradley’s speed and athleticism are a huge improvement from a year ago when they had Omar Gaither and Jeremiah Trotter lining up in the middle.  On a down note, he’s still thinking about protecting that knee.

One of the poor plays he had against the Bengals was on the Bernard Scott touchdown run in which the guard tried to cut his legs out from under him and he flopped to the ground.  He looked like he was clearly thinking of protecting that knee.  Offensive linemen are going to see that on film.

Sims is a very aggressive player by nature.  That’s his game.  He does a great job of exploding from his legs through the rest of his body to hit people.  The former Detroit Lion has the speed and athleticism of a fast NFL safety.  You won’t see tight ends running away from him like they’ve done to other Eagles linebackers.

I think he’s most effective when he’s off the line of scrimmage and able to use his speed to roam and hit people.  He has trouble when big offensive linemen get into him and use their size to swallow him up.  On the Scott touchdown run, big Andre Smith buried him as the running back ran into the end zone untouched.

Still, I’m not totally sold on Sims because he still doesn’t get his hands on the football enough.  The former Florida State All-American has only one interception in his four-year NFL career and I don’t remember him picking off any passes during training camp.  This is atrocious for a big-play linebacker with the speed Sims has.

He’s going to be on the field for three downs.  The veteran has good cover skills in man-to-man and I already mentioned his great speed, but his inability to get his hands on the football forces me to rate him as a just an okay pass cover guy.

In the secondary, the addition of rookie Allen will give them more speed but I can’t say that they’re more aggressive back there.  Teams will have more difficulty beating Allen deep than they did versus the Eagles safeties a year ago.

He’s a work in progress and you can anticipate him getting beat at times and he will miss tackles, but he’ll need to stay focus and keep battling.  The veterans around must play well and keep him focused after he gets beat or makes a mistake.

New right cornerback Ellis Hobbs has shown that he can be physical but I can’t say he’s the hitter that SheldonBrown was.  Teams are going to go after Hobbs all the time and they’ll pick their times to go after Asante Samuel.

They’ll try everything against Hobbs both short routes and long ones.  He’ll will get beat on occassion and he’s going to get some flags because he goes after wide receivers aggressively.  I can’t say they’ve improved here, but I give Hobbs a chance of being a respectable corner this year.  The key to his season will be the pass rush of the defensive line.

Overall this defense will play well if they’re playing with a lead.   If the offense struggles and they’re playing from behind against good running games, their lack of size could be a problem.

Again I can’t guarantee that this defense will be significantly better this time around than the group in 2009, but they’re going to be faster and more aggressive.

GCOBB

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Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 24, 2010 2:20 pm

Good points G..
You did fail to mention that the Block by dissapointing OL A Smiht (who is 2nd string right now)
was his 1st succesful block in the 2 years since being drafted by the Bengals
I also think the Eagles are still smallish at the point of attack (minus Bradley) plus add in that the Secndary is smallish and they may have a problem matching up with bigger,stronger WR’s in the Red-ZOne or in short-yardage situations though they have played very weel as a group so far this pre-season… I think SIms would make a great Strong Safety and play him down in the box on running plays and then let him roam the middle part of the field in passing situations, I do not think he will do well at LB for he is too small to shed the big blockers who will come his way and don’t envision him as a 3 Down/everydown LB in the NFL…

phillywill
phillywill
August 24, 2010 2:51 pm

well while no1 wants to say it, i will come right out and say it the defense will be twice better than the d from the yr ago. with that said we never had a d that can get a 3 and out with 3 min left down 7 and i dont think this d will either
but in terms of andy reid defenses this will be 1 of his better 1’s
birds will be at the top of the list in creating to’s sacks and also rezone td %
im also gonna say we will be top 5 in points allowed

the d was the problem last yr
the o will be the problem this yr book it

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 24, 2010 3:34 pm

Good rushing teams that the Eagles will face in 2010
Jaguars,Tennesse,Falcons,49ers,Vikings,Gaints and Cowboys twice which is 9 games total

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 24, 2010 3:37 pm

Broncos just released starting LB A Ayodele which I expect the Redksins,Browns to go after..

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 24, 2010 4:06 pm

**********Trade Alert ***********

Eagles trade DE J Parker to the Seattle Seahawks for TE Chris Baker and a 5th Round Draft pick
in 2011 NFL Draft
********************************************************************************************************************

WellWellWell
WellWellWell
August 24, 2010 4:08 pm

While I was watching the game I heard the announcers talking about how the Bengals have alot of depth at CB (kind of like us at WR) and will therefore have to cut some good players ou of necessity. Wonder if any of them can help us out? I don’t know too much about the Bengals CB’s after theri starters but I know Paul would have a better than decent perspective on that issue.

WellWellWell
WellWellWell
August 24, 2010 4:23 pm

PM****really****

anderson silva
anderson silva
August 24, 2010 4:24 pm

Has anyone else noticed that Graham looks just like UFC light heavy Rashad Evans?

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 24, 2010 4:30 pm

The 3 teams that are really in need of a quality DE would be Seattle, Denver, Clevleand,Carolina,
Atlanta, St Louis Rams.. I think with Parkers Age (32) and decent salary, I do not see a team that is rebuilding be all that interested in him, but a team like the Denver who lost E Dumervil, or the Falcons/Seahawks who could be interested in him maybe make a deal..
Highly unlikely that Eagles would trade to an NFC Competitive team that is playoff worthy

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
August 24, 2010 4:36 pm

This defense will be better than last year. But in my opinion that’s not saying much. With the constant LB changes and safety debacle it won’t be that difficult to be better. Sure last year we got a lot of turnovers but we also got pushed around when it was time to be physical.

Right now, they are fast and agressive. In december, just call us weak and undersized.

WellWellWell
WellWellWell
August 24, 2010 4:49 pm

PM..that’s 6 teams…Good move promoting B Grahm into the starting LDE spot.

schiller
schiller
August 24, 2010 5:31 pm

Paulman, just because a guy gets demoted, doesn’t mean he’s trade bait. You think the Eagles don’t want depth on the Dline? They tout rotations all the time, especially at that position. Why would they get rid of their most productive DL backup? They wouldn’t. Remember, the Eagles goals include winning, and making money, while yours include making as many fantasy transactions as possible and hearing yourself type….

anderson silva
anderson silva
August 24, 2010 6:10 pm

They have smaller ends, but they use a lot of them. Bunk and Patterson are big boys. Bunkley actually did more two plate benches than anybody else at the Combine during his draft year. Laws is big enough and the DT they picked up from the Skins last year is huge. Bradley is hardly undersized for a Mike linebacker. That just leaves two spots in the front 7 that could be considered undersized, Sam and Will, and Sims’ speed should help cover for his size being a little under. They may have gotten pushed around by Dallas at the end of the season last year, but that was last year, totally different circumstance.

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 24, 2010 10:53 pm

To Schiller,
They also have Tapp,TEo and possibly a R Sapp and even M Fokou all taking snaps at DE..
Maybe they like the upside of Sapp and Fokou at DE for situational purposes which makes Parker Expendable if he is only going to be a rotational player himself.. .
To WWW,
I listed 7 strong Rushing teams but have 9 games to face sinve the Eagles play Giants & Cowboys twice a year..

phillywill
phillywill
August 25, 2010 8:45 am

hey pman ur trade alerts are annoying but it doesnt matter if u say 2 plus 2 equals 4 schiller will say 3
im thru responding to him lol
if i say eagles are great he will say they stink if i say eagles stink he will say they r great he’s just a defense attorney
cochran schill

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 25, 2010 9:28 am

To PW
What’s so annoying about my Trade Alerts, I put a lot of time and thought into them…
On a serious/funny note, I read an article from Seattle times where Coach P Carrol has stated that he
expects Chris Clemons to be their main pash rusher and has the potenial to reach double-digits in his sack total.. Are you kidding me… The Seahawks D/Line is in shambles, they even traded for DL
K Bramble even though he’s been a no-show for personal reasons from the 49ers…

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
August 25, 2010 9:42 am

Yeah schiller just disagrees for the sake of disagreeing. You can agree with him on something he said before and then he’ll come back with another arrogant comment disagreeing with you agreeing with him.

phillywill
phillywill
August 25, 2010 10:32 am

how bout changing ur title from trade alert to pman trade speculation
and when an actual trade goes thru give us the alert
i look at ur trade alert and actaully believe it happened sometimes lol maybe its me lol

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 25, 2010 11:09 am

I think I have hit on 1 out of 1000 on my trade alerts..
But I do think DE J Parker does have 1-2 good seasons in him and would be in demand around the NFL
So my thinking is if he can get you value for him now and fill some other need areas for the team
(like TE,RB,CB,OL) then he should be on the table.. If by keeping Parker, even in a reduced role,
will this help/hinder the development of a Teo,Tapp,R Sapp or even a M Fokou.. I say move him now
and let the younger players play and develop
,

phillywill
phillywill
August 25, 2010 11:39 am

i just have 1 request
please move cut trash place on ir do something to stacy bum andrews
biggest thief in philadelphia besides maybe elton brand
find an alert for him pman probably will be for towels and a ball but we should hop on that right away

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 25, 2010 12:34 pm

This is most important game to date for Stacy Andrews as far as his career goes with the Eagles,
If he lays another egg versus the Chiefs with miss blocks & assignments and gets manhandled like he has the the previous 2 games,, then I think he will be demoted and have MGJ/N Cole/McGlynn fight it out for the Starters spot (based on Center J Jacksons progress)

Paulman’s Starting Offense for the Eagles in 2011

O/Line (L to R) – Peters,Herremans,McGlynn,Justice and A Howard (Cole,Topou,Dunlap as reserves)
TE/WR – Celek , D Jax, Maclin
QB & RB – Kolb, McCoy, Weave

scorpiodsu
scorpiodsu
August 25, 2010 1:06 pm

Yes Paulman. Since you provide a look around the league when you give your trade alerts you should preface it:

“Paulman’s trade alert”

And when there’s a real trade:

“NFL trade alert”

How’s that?

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 25, 2010 2:48 pm

*** Actual NFL Trade today between the VIkings and Dolphins ***

With #1 WR S Rice out for 2 months and quite possibly the entire 2010 season due to hip surgery
The Vikings receive WR G Camarillo from the Miami Dolphins for nickle back CB B Sapp…

Wonder if the Eagles could have moved one of their 5th WR’s Baskett or Washington for a decent back-up player along O/Line,TE or some other area of need…

phillywill
phillywill
August 25, 2010 3:15 pm

awful that i drafted sidney rice 4th round in my big money league just awful
i picked up jabar gaffney late trying to help fix this also nate washington any1 have any sleepers at wr please im listening
wish i took berrian

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 25, 2010 4:02 pm

I thnik Farve will have a rough year and with Rice and who knows about Harvin with the migraines situation he’s been having… I think the following WR could be sleepers and put up some decent #’s

Colts – A Collie
Broncoes – E Royal
Bears – J Knox
Falcons – H Douglas
Seahawks – G Tate
Cardinals – S Breaston
Steelers – M Wallace
Texans – K Walter
Eagles – J Avant
Giants – M Manningham
Saints – D Henderson
Ravens – D Mason

Good luck

WellWellWell
WellWellWell
August 25, 2010 4:04 pm

This just in- Albert Haynesworth misses another day of practice because he farted too hard and ruptured a fat deposit in his bum-bum.

WellWellWell
WellWellWell
August 25, 2010 4:06 pm

I like the list PMan but who the hell is gonna throw to Steve Breaston?

phillywill
phillywill
August 25, 2010 4:07 pm

i have breaston but i like harry douglas is he starting this yr ?
shaub my qb i may look at walter to go with him
not a bad list pman thx

Paul Mancini
Paul Mancini
August 25, 2010 6:07 pm

I think Curt Warner will come out of retirement this weekend and be ready by week 2 or 3
Sources have told me he’s been secretly working out and throwing many passes dressed up as a UPS Delivery Driver around the Phoenix Athletic fields..
Another one I missed is Ravens D Stallworth, with the good running attack and Flacco’s big arm,
I can asee a lot of play action and Stallworth flying down the sidelines in a 1 on 1 coverage..He may not catch a lot of passes overall but I think he will get his share of TD’s…
Harry Douglas is a #2/#3 WR behind R WHile adn M Jenkins, but Jenkins was hurt earlier in camp and DOuglas may replace him as a #2 WR, but either way, he will get his share of passes and will make some plays as more Defenses double up R White and also have to account for TE T Gonzales leaving Douglas or Jenkins in a lot of 1 on 1 match-ups which favor the WR…