• March 29, 2024

Eagles Have Huge Advantage In Their WR Matchups Against Falcons Secondary

The last couple of years the Eagles have had little trouble beating the Atlanta Falcons. One of the reasons is because of the Birds speed at the wide receiver position and the Falcons lack of skilled coverage people in their secondary.

Dunta Robinson is their best corner and he’s not a great man-to-man cover guy. Brent Grimes has good quickness and coverage ability but he lacks good size and can’t run with DeSean Jackson. There’s a huge drop off when the Falcons go to nickel. Expect the Eagles to go after them with big plays when they go nickel.

The Birds wide receivers have a huge advantage in that matchup. The Falcons like to stay away from man-to-man coverages but rely on zone coverages. They love to play Cover Two in the secondary with the safeties deep and the corners rolled up and trying to jam the receivers when they come off the line.

You can’t live in Cover Two unless your pass rush are putting consistent pressure on the quarterback.

Last year with Michael Vick down with an injury, Kevin Kolb picked them apart as the offensive line gave him plenty of time and he got the ball deep to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. I remember how the Birds put Jackson in the slot and the Falcons foolishly didn’t jam him. They let Jackson get off the line and he got deep down the middle.

In two deep coverages, the way you beat it is by getting three receivers deep. Usually the guy working the middle is a tight end or running back. At times you might get a slot receiver down the middle in three wide receiver sets, but the defense will always have somebody jam him when he comes off the line.

The Eagles slipped Jackson into the slot and he got deep on the Falcons down the seam before Atlanta knew what hit them. The safeties were occupied by the outside receivers and were shocked to see Jackson going into the end zone with the football.

On another play, Maclin ran a double move against the Falcons. The Eagles ran this play after one of the Falcons starting cornerback Dunta Robinson had that collision with DeSean Jackson. Maclin ran a curl route on the Eagles left side. The cornerback swallowed Maclin’s fake and Kolb’s punt fake, hook, line and sinker.

Kolb hit Maclin in stride and he took it into the end zone on a seventy-plus yard touchdown.

At the beginning of the game, the Eagles took advantage of Atlanta’s speed and desire to get to the football. Andy Reid and Marty Mornhnweg ran a reverse in their first offensive series and Jackson took it about forty-yards for a touchdown.

I’m sure the Eagles are to going to try misdirection plays to take advantage of the Falcons tendency to over pursue. A misdirection play will also keep them honest.

GCOBB

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RealTalk777
RealTalk777
September 15, 2011 12:42 pm

Definitely need to get Maclin more involved in the game….1 catch ain’t good enough…MM said that his job is to get Maclin more involved (he did say that Maclin was the number one option on a lot of pass calls) Maybe Steve Smith gets a few more plays on Sunday too…

paulman
paulman
September 15, 2011 12:51 pm

One thing to keep in mind that a lot of dans seem to forget about last years game.. When D-Jax went out early , so did the Falcons best Cover CB D Robinson who was theone that collided with D-Jax.. which was equivalent to the Eagles last year when Samuel was out..and how did the rest of the Eagles Seconday look without him..not too good, so just because Kolb lite them up without their best Cover CB last game dies not mean it will be easy pickings for Vick and Eagle WR.s

2 Areas to target on this Falcons Defense is their LB Corp with the TE’s?Slot receivers and RB out of the backfield..
The other area to target is their Safeties (Moore and DeCoud) who are young, love to hit but are overly agressive and can get burnt deep when you pick your spots (and probably bthe best way to attack them is right up the gut, their DE’s are pretty talented in J Abraham,R Edwards (who is still not 100% from his Knee Injury) a Kory Biermann (who reminds me a little of a J Babin type and just keeps working and coming after the QB and just seems to make plays)
Their DT’s are a real weak spot with their high Draft Pick from a couple of years ago in Peria Jerry, never really developing into a top DT and other starter J Babineaux, who has been around for a while and is average..
Their LB”s are very similar to the Eagles in that they are 6’2 -240 lbs range who can run and are better in pass covereage then stopping the run.. I think the Eagles OL and RB’s can wear out this Front 7 by throwing some screens,quick outs and slants and then pounding the rock between the Tackles.. I am curious to see how last years Top Pick LB Sean Weatherspoon looks, he came in highly touted but has gotten off to a pretty slow start in the NFL Career after a great College Career at the University of Missouri.. Expect some delayed blitzes or shawdowing by Weatherspoon on QB Vick..

vinnietheevictor
vinnietheevictor
September 15, 2011 12:52 pm

I believe you’re being too kind to the Atlanta secondary GCobb. This is a team that QBs drool over facing because its almost a free 300 yrd game to pad those stats.

Take a look at the litany of 300 yrd passers the Falcs gave up last year. I may have to go back and check, but I think everyone save Claussen, Alex Smith and Freeman dropped that number on the Dirty Birds.

In their last 3 games of note (discounting week 17 vs the pathetic panthers) the Falcs have given up 980yrds through the air. Losing those 3 games 95-45 combined.

Should be a field day for the Birds….it is for everone else. Atlanta has only 2 advantages in this game….desperation and crowd noise (though I think that might quickly evaporate when things begin to go bad)

gloomysmitty
gloomysmitty
September 15, 2011 1:09 pm

wait a min did paulman just compare dunta robinson to samuel somebody shoot him please if the eagles dont put at least 40 up on this team something is wrong.and look for namidi to #88 as he will shut him down.drc will be on mr.jones and asante will be mr.white again birds 40 -dirty birds 20

vinnietheevictor
vinnietheevictor
September 15, 2011 1:09 pm

I guess I spoke a little prematurely…seems like Denis Dixon, Charlie Whitehurst, Senace Wallace, Colt Anderson, Jimmy Claussen , Alex Smith and rookies Bradford and Freeman didn’t get to 300 vs the Falcs. Then again, their names are Dixon, Whitehurst, Wallace, Anderson, Claussen, and Smith.

Good god….what a murderers row. Throw in the 3 more games against rookie signal callers and its very difficult to understand how the Falcons got to 13-3.

This team is a complete mirage.

paulman
paulman
September 15, 2011 1:15 pm

Yes they did get torched most of last Season when they only had 1 true pass rusher in J Abraham,who also missed a few games.. When a Team has little or no consistent pass rush, any Defensive Secondary will end up looking bad…
DE J Abraham had 13 of the Falcons 31 Total Sacks last seasons and only 5 Sacks came from their LB Corps so this is not a real blitzing type of Defense….

paulman
paulman
September 15, 2011 1:18 pm

For the Record, Did Jimmy Claussen even get to 300 yards all of last Season..
Talk about a bust.. He is no NFL QB and makes Kolb/Kafka and even Mike McMahon look like a Pro-Bowler..

navyeaglefan
navyeaglefan
September 15, 2011 2:02 pm

Help me out – 2 questions becuase I don’t know the answers –

Do the Eagles ever run WR Screens?

Would spreading the field and running WR screens help them vs the blitz?

and lastly – for those of you that think I think all the eagles do is wonderful – can we run the ball a few more times in the first half – we average about 5 a pop – nothing wrong with 2nd and 6…

BirdoBeamen
BirdoBeamen
September 15, 2011 2:22 pm

Alot of you complain about the most senseless things…..but my number one pet peeve with the Eagles right now and it showed in the game against the Rams:

When we run the ball, can we stop doing it out of the shotgun formation! Dammit the hell, can we just line up in the I and try to run it down the defenses throats every once in a while. The one time (out of the few) that we did run out of the I against St. Louis, Shady had that 55 yard TD run I believe.

Thats one of the things that irks me with Andy/Marty.

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
September 15, 2011 2:22 pm

And throw short to Celek. Nothing wrong with 2 and 3.

BirdoBeamen
BirdoBeamen
September 15, 2011 2:24 pm

CORRECTION

They WERE in the shotgun for that run……but it still irks me.

navyeaglefan
navyeaglefan
September 15, 2011 2:55 pm

BoB – I’ll give you an amen brother – did we even try to run between the tackles? Could we try it maybe 4 times in the first half this week

paulman
paulman
September 15, 2011 3:11 pm

To Gloomy
I was not comparing Falcons D Robinson to the Eagles Samuel for their is no comparision.. What I mean is that last Season, Robinson was the best cover and big play that the Falcons had, while Sammuel was the best playmaker in the Eagles Secondary and the Falcons missing Robinson for 3 Quarters is like how the Eagles Secondaty looked last year when Samuel didn’t play which was not too good… and last year is under the bridge at this point.. The Eagles WR’s shuld dominate this Falcon Defense but It’s as much as their lack of pressure on the QB as it is with their Secondary..

Stevo
Stevo
September 15, 2011 3:23 pm

i think the birds will be much sharper on O this week. Less drops…. rook center should be sharper too. Kolb did well against this falcons team last year so i see no prob for Vick. I think Shady has a HUGE day again. I think we will see some pics from our corners. This should look like the eagles we were hoping to get this year.

Early on the falcons will run well but they will have to play from behind.

Enjoy the ride boys.

schiller
schiller
September 15, 2011 3:23 pm

Bob and Navy – you guys can desire anything you want (obviously) but clearly what they did got the win. Why second guess what worked? I personally don’t care how Shady get’s his yards, as long as we’re winning. It’s like requesting a ‘crisp’ 100 bill…. I’ll take the crumbly one too!

BirdoBeamen
BirdoBeamen
September 15, 2011 3:34 pm

Oh I’ll take it, but I guess what I’m wanting is more film on the team for the opponents to use. I want other teams to review our game tape and be like “We don’t know if they’re gonna run it out of the I or out of the shotgun” — if we just showed that we are succesful running out the I, it would just be more ammo to use on teams. It would also make our play actions 10x better.

schiller
schiller
September 15, 2011 3:35 pm

birdo – I hear that. Maybe it’ll happen sunday, or soon – or it may take more time for the OL to solidfy/proove itself before they’re confident in doing that.

navyeaglefan
navyeaglefan
September 15, 2011 3:43 pm

Must Beat Atlanta, must beat Atlanta, must beat Atlanta (come on Schill, I am trying to find common ground with the common man – thinking of going into politics (NOT!) got to go officiate a freshman high school game today – I will get a chain gang made up of all the kids that pissed the coach off and aren’t allowed to play this week

schiller
schiller
September 15, 2011 4:13 pm

Ha Navy – I admire your commitment to reaching out to those with differing opinions – I’m not as skilled as you at that but hopefully with reps, I’ll improve – ala casey mathews and the OL!

Do they review all scoring plays in your league!?

runtheball09
runtheball09
September 15, 2011 4:29 pm

Schill 8====@ (_I_) Navy

why don’t you two get a room?

navyeaglefan
navyeaglefan
September 15, 2011 4:47 pm

no reviews thogh I swear I had songs as one of the coaches last week – I had to keep telling him the rules – you know the rules – the ones in the rule book, not the voice in your head –

RTB – I have not met Schill so I have no idea if I would find him attractive or not – I am reasonably sure he would not find me attractive – Pman – did you find me attractive when we met ?

schiller
schiller
September 15, 2011 5:35 pm

run, do you notice how nobody says you and songs are romantically involved just because you two align generally the same way as eagles fans? That’s called class.

runtheball09
runtheball09
September 15, 2011 5:56 pm

schiller typed that with one hand because his other was on his boyfriends genitals

runtheball09
runtheball09
September 15, 2011 5:58 pm

take your class and stick it up your ass. this is philadelphia not san francisco butt loving california

mubi
September 15, 2011 7:40 pm

lol ^

DDCar
DDCar
September 15, 2011 8:48 pm

RUN, that’s some hysterical $#!T!! LMFBO!!!

navyeaglefan
navyeaglefan
September 15, 2011 9:48 pm

one thing I have learned RTB – those that comment the most and make the most homophobic comments are generally the ones that have the strongest latent homosexual feelings – DD – really dude – that stuff was funny in like 1982 what are you 12?

DDCar
DDCar
September 16, 2011 4:18 am

Come on Navy, it was funny. Life is too short! Have a sense of humor, dude or add a little more fiber in your diet. You guys are way too serious. You would think because we have our own opinions, it was like we were trying to rob your house or rape your women. Cut it out, it is only sports. It is our release from reality & every day grind. This is supposed to be a way to vent & converse. We have different beliefs & opinions. If you don’t like it too bad. I don’t care about, or criticize your opinions. The only time I come back at you guys, is when you talk down to me & criticize me because you disagree. Don’t tell me what to say, & don’t assume that you know anything about me.Too bad, get over yourselves. You don’t know it all. Neither do I.