A Closer Look At The Eagles Defense Versus The Titans

You can’t let one man totally annihilate your defense without making an adjustment to stop him.  The Eagles defense also had too many costly penalties.

I’ve got to give the Birds run defense credit.  This is the third week in a row, which they faced a top running back and they’ve held all of them to around a three yards per carry rushing average.

Chris Johnson ran the ball 26 times for 66 yards which is only 2.8 yards a carry.  Last week they held Michael Turner to 45 yards on 15 carries.  And the week before that they limited to 52 yards on 18 carries.

I’ve got to single out Antonio Dixon for getting into the Titans backfield on a consistent basis.  He was tied for second on the team with six tackles, five solos and one assist.  He also had a sack for the second week in a row.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that the run defense was its best with Dixon in there.

Juqua Parker committed a foolish penalty when he slammed Kerry Collins to the ground after he threw an incomplete pass.  The defense could have gotten off the field, but the penalty kept the Titans drive going.

I want to see more of Brandon Graham.  They’ve got to rotate these guys.  Neither is a full time defensive end right now.

Safety Quintin Mikell had another outstanding game with a sack, forced fumble and an interception. He did a nice job on the sack by getting the ball out of Kerry Collins’ hands.  Sean McDermott is moving him around and he’s making an impact.

Mikell is reading his keys, believing what he’s reading and attacking the play.

I like the job he’s doing as an open field tackler.  He’s wrapping up the ball carriers and  bringing them down.

Outside linebacker Ernie Sims was doing what he does best, which is run around and hit people.  We still don’t see any big plays from this guy.  It’s seven games and no big plays.

He’s probably going to get a call from the league office with some bad news.  He busted Chris Johnson with a helmet to helmet shot.  They will probably fine him and they could suspend him.

Sims was tied with Dixon for second on the team in tackles with four solos and two assists.

Middle linebacker Stewart Bradley wasn’t very active but they did his job against the run although he only had two tackles.  Bradley had two costly offsides penalties.

Sam linebacker Moise Fokou had a good day with five tackles and he did a good job of setting the edge and sending Johnson back inside to the other Eagles defenders.

Defensive end Trent Cole was his active self again this week.  He plays so hard and is a much better run defender than everybody gives him credit for.  He contributed a sack and four solo tackles.

Asante Samuel continues to show why he’s amongst the best in the game.  He ran the receiver’s route for him on his interception.  Why do quarterbacks continue to throw short routes in Samuel’s area?  He usually has as good of a shot at catching the ball as the receiver does.

I would have matched him up on Britt as an adjustment.

Nate Allen led the team in tackles but nearly all of them were on Kenny Britt after he made big catches for huge amounts of yardage.

Allen played like a rookie yesterday.  He was caught looking at the quarterback when he should have been looking at the receiver.  Other times he was looking at the receiver when he should have been looking back for the ball.  That’s what happened on the long 80 yard touchdown when Britt came back for the ball, caught then outran Allen and Ellis Hobbs to the end zone.

He wasn’t playing his help.  If you’ve got help outside, then you take away the inside throw.  Too many times he was giving Britt both options.  You must take something away as a defender.

Veterans on the team have to settle a rookie down in those situations.  Somebody has to talk to him and build up his confidence.  You can’t sit by and watch a youngster get torched like that.

Hobbs doesn’t have the speed to run with the big time receivers in the league.  He will battle them when they come off the line and he can compete with them on short and intermediate routes, but he seems lost after that.  They have to keep a safety deep.

A veteran like Hobbs is supposed to guide Allen through a game like that.  He should orchestrate an adjustment to take Britt away from the Titans.  They were playing as if they weren’t in the huddle together.

The coaches and the other veterans have to help put together a plan to stop one guy from beating your brains in like that.