Yes, I purposely misspelled it in the title.
The Eagles OL has been sporadic all year. Especially in their run blocking. Brian Westbrook is their engine, but he is their 2nd leading rusher due to his being banged up this year. All 3 of our backs have more rushing yards than the Eagles best weapon. Here are the rushing comparisons for the top 3 rushers for both teams.
LeSean McCoy...70 carries for 296 yards, 4.2 avg., 2 TDs
Brian Westbrook...41 carries for 197 yards, 4.8 avg., 1 TD
Leonard Weaver...12 carries for 91 yards, 7.6 avg., 1 TD
You also need to be aware of McNabb on scrambles and DeSean Jackson on reverses. Overall the Eagles have 7 rushing TDs this year. Only McCoy has more than 1. Their OL has not been solid in opening up the run.
Marion Barber...86 carries for 397 yards, 4.6 avg., 4 TDs
Felix Jones...37 carries for 288 yards, 7.8 avg., 1 TD
Tashard Choice...48 carries for 236 yards, 4.9 avg., 2 TDs
A big time key to beating the Eagles lies in getting McNabb to hurry his throws. The Eagles get rolling when they can give him time and beat you deep. Dallas cannot allow him time. When he is rushed he is not an accurate passer. When he has time, he will kill you. Remember the 15 second scramble play a few years ago?
To this end look for the Cowboys CBs to want to jam Maclin and Jackson at the LOS as opposed to giving these speedsters cushions to simply take off. At least I hope this is what we do. I think we are far better at press man coverage than we are in any other coverage scheme. Both our CBs have been playing physical lately. This is where it could really pay off. DeSean Jackson is not big. He cannot get physical with our CBs. If they force him to, they will neutralize his asset, which is pure speed. Jeremy Maclin is a bit bigger, but he is still not a physical WR.
Jamming them at the LOS could give the pass rush the head start they need to get to McNabb who is elusive, but does get sacked. He has taken 14 sacks this year so far. Now Romo has taken 13, so you might say they are comparable. No they aren't. Romo has dropped back to pass 230 times, McNabb has dropped back to pass 133 times. So in 97 fewer passes he has been sacked more often.
McNabb gets sacked more because he takes more 7 step drops. The reason is simple, he likes throwing the deep ball to those track star WRs. Take that away and he becomes very ordinary as a passer.
The weapon we have to watch is Brent Celek, the Eagles TE. He is quietly having an outstanding season. Gerald Sensabuagh, guys like Celek, Tony Gonzalez, and John Carlson are why you are vital to this Defense. Can you perform the hat trick and contain yet another solid TE? We hope so. Celek and Westbrook are McNabb's safety valve options in the passing game. If the run game is not there for the Eagles Andy Reid will throw a lot. He has this entire decade. People think Garrett relies too heavily on the pass. Reid can make Garrett look conservative.
If ever there was a game where I would like to see us become conservative and run the ball for 300 yards and use the short pass, this is it. We have lamented the lack of sacks and takeaways this year. Let me show you just how wide the chasm to the Eagles is right now in these categories.
Eagles...23 sacks, 14 INTs, 8 Forced Fumbles
Cowboys...17 sacks, 4 INTs, 8 Forced Fumbles
I would like to see Tony have a 4th straight game of no picks, and I can think of no better way than for him not to need to throw it except short routes. I would like to see us run effectively to neutralize Trent Cole and their pass rush. Use Draw Plays and Screens to take advantage of their aggressiveness. Ride Jason Witten like the thoroughbred he is.
Bryan Broaddus brought this up last night. Put Roy out wide right where Asante Samuel is. Keep a TE on the right side and run right. Asante has made it clear that he does not like to tackle. Pull Kyle Kosier right and run right on them all night long. Watch Asante try and bring down the Barberian. This would be a dream of mine. If we can establish the run and control the clock all night and wear down their defense while keeping that pass rush off Tony...
...well, let's just say if we do those things I think it would mean we take over sole possession of the lead in the NFC East. I think that is huge. I definitely don't think we can afford to be 0-2 in the Division if we have any hopes of winning it. Luckily we still have 2 more games with the patsy Commanders, but this is too good an opportunity to pass us by.
We could lose this game very easily. The Eagles are no joke. We can win it too and the way to do it is to do what Jimmy Johnson says, punch these guys right in the mouth. They'll bleed. Just ask Oakland.
