The Eagles defense has its work cut out for them on Saturday night against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints passing offense. Brees is an extension of Saints head coach Sean Payton. The New Orleans head coach is one of the best play callers in the National Football League and Brees seems to be able to execute everything Payton calls.
The Saints quarterback has a very quick release and like Kyle Orton of the Cowboys, Brees gets the ball out of his hands immediately because of his ability to go through his reads so swiftly.
The Philadelphia defense has to do a better job versus Brees than they did against Orton. If they’re not able to get to him before he gets rid of the ball, they must use other methods to stop him from picking apart their pass defense. This year he threw for 5162 yards, while completing 68.6 percent of his passes, with 39 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 104 and some considered this an off year for him.
The Birds are going to be trying to take advantage of the fact that like Birds backup quarterback Michael Vick, Brees is only six-feet tall, which is short for NFL quarterbacks. For example, Nick Foles is six-foot-six. Brees has to find open lanes between the offensive and defensive linemen to throw the football through. The Birds are aware of that fact and it’s the reason their linemen will trying to eliminate his throwing lanes and putting their hands up when they can’t get to him.
“We’ve got to get him out of rhthym”, Eagles nose tackle Bennie Logan said yesterday. “I’ve to get push in the middle to get him uncomfortable in the pocket. Make sure he don’t really have the throwing lanes.”
“It’s going to big for our linemen to get their hands up to affect his throws that way”, Eagles inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks said as he went through the methods needed to stop the Saints passing attack and hopefully beat New Orleans in the Saturday night playoff game.
Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis and his staff have been emphasizing the importance of the defensive line getting their hands up when they realize they’re not getting to Brees on the play.
[media id=374 width=400 height=300]”You’ve got to reroute guys”, Kendricks while going through his checklist of techniques to use.
Rerouting means jamming the receivers and not allowing them to go where they want to go. If the Eagles can occasionally move up on the New Orleans receivers and delay their release, it will force Brees to hang onto the football and that might allow the Eagles pass rush to get to him, so they at least pound him.
Another method they’ll use will be trying trick him with their coverages.
“You could disguise things make it look like you’re in another coverage but really you’re in another coverage or in a different coverage. It takes longer for a quarterback to read,” Kendricks said.
The pass rushers will need to adjust their pass rush moves against a guy like Brees, who gets rid of the football so quickly.
“We’ve got to get on him quick”, Eagles outside linebacker Trent Cole said. “You’ve got to bull rush and go right to him.”
A couple of Weak spots for the Saints right now
1) LT T Armstead is stating his 3rd game in the NFL and has been overmatched thus far.. Cole & Cox should dominate this match-up
2) The Saints Secondary are without their 2 Best Players
Cover CB Jabari Greer & Safety Kenny Vacarro who were having
all-Pro Type of Seasons before their Injuries
3) Playing at the Linc– Saints are 3-5 on the Road
This Year and Brees has struggled in the colder,wet
Outdoors..
Saints D-Line versus the Eagles O-Line will determine
The Winner of the Game.. Saints DL Gillette & Jordan
Have had excellent Seasons and bring it on every Play
A Wildcard here is Saints Coach Sean Payton
Who is as aggressive as a Coach as there is in the NFL
Watch for going for it on 4th Down,
On-Side Kick-Offs, Fake Punts, you name it
Eagles Special Teams must be aware at all times
And play a strong game..
I like the Eagles 30-27 in a barn-burner and could come down to who
Has the ball last type of game.. The Fans can really help
Being loud all game..
Go Eagles…
I think the length on the Eagles D can’t be understated. It may play the most important part in successfully defensing the Saints/Brees. A QB of his ilk isn’t likely to be fooled by disguising coverages & our D lacks still lacks an explosive pass-rusher. Let those 6’4 & 6’5 guys get their arms up and make Brees change his throwing lanes or dump off the a RB cause it’s difficult to see downfield. Assign a DB to cover Graham all game and pray that Wolff is healthy this week.
The Eagles DBs struggle with speed WRs. The player that blows the lids off of defenses for the Saints right now is Kenny Stills and hes the matchup to watch. Billy Davis tends to get a Safety on a WR at least 2-3 times a game and I am worried about a repeat of Patrick Chung on Greg Jennings scenario. Second most important is Darren Sproles. With Davis using Kendricks as the blitz LB a majority of the time Sproles isolated on Barwin or Coles or even Ryans is another worry. Danny Woodhead gave them headaches in the San Diego game, although that was some time ago thats still an achillees heel on this defense. Connor Barwin killed a huge play in the Cowboys game with Kyle Orton to Murray in the flat….Drew Brees wont get that pass knocked down.
Good Points Mr Toast.. Saints WR Marquis Colston has been on a roll the last 4-5 Games and is the healthiest he’s been in the last 2 Years..
Sproles has been dinged up all Season with ankle,knee issues and has lost a little of that explosion, thought he is still dangerous out in the Flats..
Saints also use their FB Jed Collins on key 3rd Down Plays out of the backfield who kind of flys under the radar but has made some big plays for them this Season..Either way you slice it, the Saints have multiple weapons, a great Call Player in Sean Payton, and a very good and accurate Passer in Drew Brees when given time…
This is going to be a great Match-Up with both Kelly/Payton and these explosive Offenses…
The Saints offense loves it when you key on one player like Jimmy Graham so that they can kill you with Colston, Sproles or another WR. Everyone is gonna have to do their jobs this Saturday, because if they don’t Payton and Brees will exploit it. That being said, the Birds O can stay with the Saints score for score. The strength of their D is their ends and rookie S Vacarro (who is out). I hope to see them run the ball right the eff down their throats as the the Saints D is only average at best against the run.
The Saints love to play at home in-doors also. I know…and we all know from experience that you cannot depend on the “cold-weather” factor being 100% (see Tampa Bay….still hurts), but this season the Saints have scored 16 fewer points when on the road. This is a playoff game, and we will need to defend all of the various weapons that they have, but the Birds need to play THIER GAME…dictate to the Saints and play from in front. I see the crowd being a big advantage for the team this week. I cannot wait for Saturday!!
GO BIRDS!!
Dont get too fancy “disguising things”…don’t try getting too cute and moving multiple LB’s along with a secondary player too often, mix it up! LB’s or secondary get out of position even a little Brees will make the Eagles D pay! Mix it up keep it simple and the LB’s can have a solid performance. The front line has to get pressure and help the secondary out. They are the key!
The only realistic way to stop future HOFer in Brees is to keep him off the field. The Saints are pretty terrible against the run, good against the pass. Shady/Brown/Polk should get a combined 35-40 carries/short screens in this game. Eat the clock like Rivers did to us in the beginning of the year. Throw the short passes and get some really long drives going.
Basically boring offensive football. It doesn’t look fancy, it doesn’t get the sportcenter highlights (even though some lunatics on here would rather pick that over wins). But it would give us our best shot to win this game.
Eagles are pretty much playing with house money now. I would love a deep playoff run/SuperBowl but this team still has lots of holes to fill. I think our team could easily beat on one of our good days anybody in the league except Denver and Seattle in their buildings. But you never know, exciting time to be an Eagles fan.
Its kind of like 2001 all over again. We were disappointed that we lost in the playoffs but at least we knew we were going in the right direction.
pheags88 I can agree with a few points, and trust me, I had Brees, Graham and Sproles on my fanatsy team so I played pretty close attention to what the Saints were doing this year. I think they have a very explosive offensive team, and some very talented players, but they can be beat….especially on the road. I would hope that Davis takes a look at the way Carolina played them and can put some of those blitzes into our scheme. Brees is a great QB, don’t get me wrong, but I believe that we can force him into some mistakes and frustration that can help us win the game.
As far as your statement about “house money”….I really hate that saying. There are 12 teams that are left. We have just as much of a chance to take this thing all the way as any of the other 11. Teams with worse records than our 10-6 have won the SB. Why lower expectations? We made it this far….so I will be disappointed if we lose to the Saints at home…..devistated no, but certainly disappointed. I hope that the players and coaches are looking at it the same way, because if not they are certain to lose.
GO BIRDS!!
Long drives are short drives if your the Eagles. Hard to keep Brees off the field when the offensive tempo is so fast paced…Eagles have to score when they have the ball and the defense will have to make some stops…Brees is going to have plenty of opportunities. So should the Eagles O.
I agree with that RT. Kelly has stated the same thing over and over again. They are looking to score touchdowns. Long drives are fine, but the more plays that you run the more chances you have for a turnover. I think Kelly wants to score fast and often. Like you said, the defense will need to make some stops, but the offense and special teams need to do their part and not put the defense in short field situations.
GO BIRDS!!
Well hopefully Chip will adjust to the competition like he has for the most of the year. I just don’t think the 50 yard bombs/2 min drives will get us the win against Brees/Graham etc.
They can still use the hurry up after a play but then slow it up at the line, keep the defense off balance just like Rivers did to us. I just remember how much Rivers was pissing me off in that game. It drove me nuts. Dink and dunk passes to small shifty guys, getting 3-4 yards at a time. Watching San Diego Offense was the most boring thing ever but it was the perfect plan against us at the time. Saints did the same against the Cowboys this year. They had 40 first downs to the Cowboys 9. Just ate the clock
Wow! Sounds like this Defense has its work cut out for them on Saturday.
I actually feel good about our guys going up against their secondary. Unfortunately, Not so super confident about being able to get to Brees more than a few times if at all. The thing with Brees is he gets the ball out quickly and like Manning he can pretty much read the Defenses and has probably seen it all. Plus the fact that this Defense is not good against passing teams.
But I am confident in our Defense’s ability to cause disruptions and interceptions and to make a play when it counts. I believe the eagles will make some big plays on Defense.
OTOH The Saints will have their hands full with our Offensive playmakers as well. Mccoy is a Beast! Even teams with a good pass rush hasn’t been able to completely stop him. Once he finds a hole and gets out in the open space its a wrap. You put guys like D-Jax and Cooper up against their weak Secondary and its not even close! I think its going to be a grudge match for sure and a shootout with the score being somewhere around 24 to 21.
I also agree Sean Peyton is unquestionably one of the Greatest and he always seemed to have Andy Reid’s number.lol Im looking forward to seeing what Chip Kelly and Billy Davis have up their sleeves. lol