Philly's run defense, your gonna get your's.

[SaltwaterServr]

I took a look at Philly's run defense which currently ranks 23 in yards rushing allowed per game. That ranking is after they shut down Washington's running game in the Rex Grossman benched fiasco.

Minus that game where they allowed 42 rushing yards (we allowed 65 against them) they've given up, get this, 713 yards on the ground in five games. Read that again, 713 yards in 5 games. 142.6 yards per game which would put them squarely at 30th in the league against the run.

St. Louis, before last Sunday, allowed 808 yards in five games for 161.6 per game. The only other team worse than Philly before the Washington anomaly were the Colts.

How do they compare though on a game-by-game basis to the teams they've played, i.e. do they hold their opponents to more or less than their season average?

St. Louis
Average 93 yards per game, allowed 169. St. Louis also lost Stephen Jackson after the first run of the game for several weeks and that's about the only offense they have.

Atlanta
Average 112, allowed 138.

NYG
Average 90, allowed 105. I thought NY was a power running team???

San Fran
Average 131, allowed 165. We held them to 74 including the 21 by Alex Smith.

Washington
Average 118, held them to 42 without Hightower in the game. We held them to 65 of which Hightower had 41.

Buffalo
Average 141, allowed 136

Now they've had the bye week to prepare, or have they? Tony Dungy made specific mention early on in the season that the year they won the Super Bowl they couldn't have done it under the current CBA rules. You'll recall that Indy had the worst run defense in the league.

He said that they used those two weeks to completely revamp their scheme against the run and that only having two padded practices a week, not to mention the mandatory 4 days off which didn't factor into his retooling period, would've severely curtailed their ability to actually practice in full speed contact what they were trying to rebuild.

So where does that leave us? Was our rushing offense last week an anomaly much like Philly's game against Washington's run offense? Can we expect one of the league's worst rushing defenses to come crashing back to the ground this week after having one good week and then revert to form the following against Buffalo?

I believe we'll see considerable success against the Philly front 7. Bye week or no, Dallas's run offense changed in addition by subtraction. Montrae Holland, for all of his issues staying healthy, looked dang good out there for having only a few days of practice with the team. Overall PFF.com gave him a -.02 in run blocking but a +1.1 in pass protection. Phil Costa received a -1.4 in run blocking.

I think we lose something with Felix, but Demarco is the more well-rounded back. The comparison will draw ire, but he reminds me of Julius Jones during his few good years. Perhaps more aptly, he reminds me of Stephen Jackson. He's got power to run through some tackles plus a combo of nice speed and shiftiness.

In all reality, I don't think Philly was supremely worried about our running game coming into this weekend. Had we picked up 150-170 yards we'd have been just another game for the Rams and not registered anything significant on Andy's radar. Now we're a different animal, like Miles breaking out against Kansas City.

What do you do if you're Andy? Think it's an aberration and play us as a sub-par running team as we were before like Atlanta did to Miles the week following Kansas City and get burned 171 yards and 2 TDs? Do you recognize that we've possibly improved on the offensive line with the addition of Murray and Holland and try to change the running scheme in a week's time with only one padded practice to implement said changes?

What, if anything, can your inexperienced and under-qualified offensive line coach turned Defensive Coordinator figure out even given two weeks in his playbook turned up all the way to All-Madden?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Risen Star]

Well, they did improve greatly against Washington in their last game.

I agree that it's a weakness we should try to attack, but I wouldn't assume it's a lopsided mismatch in our advantage. A week ago, nobody thought we could run on anyone.

 

[JBS]

Philly stopped the wide 9 vs the skins..thats what improved their run D..so i have heard at least

 

[Risen Star]

Philly stopped the wide 9 vs the skins..thats what improved their run D..so i have heard at least

Correct. I think they'll do the same against Dallas. You won't see those ends out so wide unless it's an obvious passing down.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Well, they did improve greatly against Washington in their last game.

I agree that it's a weakness we should try to attack, but I wouldn't assume it's a lopsided mismatch in our advantage. A week ago, nobody thought we could run on anyone.

Washington was down 20-3 at halftime. They had averaged 3.2 per carry up to that point.

I got my teams out of order there, but the point remains that we did just as well against Washington. Philly held them to 3 yards per carry without their #1 option, and we held them to 3 yards per carry with their #1 option. Considering their inability to do anything against the run this entire season, that's just getting lucky against a team that had no passing game to speak of.

That game was a slopfest for both offenses.

 

[shockandroll]

Washington was down 20-3 at halftime. They had averaged 3.2 per carry up to that point.

I got my teams out of order there, but the point remains that we did just as well against Washington. Philly held them to 3 yards per carry without their #1 option, and we held them to 3 yards per carry with their #1 option. Considering their inability to do anything against the run this entire season, that's just getting lucky against a team that had no passing game to speak of.

That game was a slopfest for both offenses.

Agreed. And we also beat them with Romo in a body cast. Which WR's were out? Who was on the oline? We'd have killed them if we had been healthy.

 

[btcutter]

Against the Rams we can run and punt because Rams offense is anemic.

However, you can't do that against Eagles. They have a good offense so we can't keep giving them possessions.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Agreed. And we also beat them with Romo in a body cast. Which WR's were out? Who was on the oline? We'd have killed them if we had been healthy.

Good points. Had we had our full arsenal, we'd have been up on them early and taken the running game away from them. The way I had it worded earlier made it sound like I was equating Philly's run defense as being as good as our #1 run defense. Not the case at all.

(Proof)Reading is fundamental. :

We've changed out two very key pieces and our execution of blocks looked great. Not to mention that one of our few bad runs was our former #2 running back going the wrong direction into the unblocked part of the defense.

Against the Rams we can run and punt because Rams offense is anemic.

However, you can't do that against Eagles. They have a good offense so we can't keep giving them possessions.

They're also -8 in turnovers despite the interception fest they had against Washington. Vick has 7 fumbles, 3 lost, and 8 interceptions. 11 turnovers on him alone in 6 games. Nice average.

 

[ShiningStar]

Agreed. And we also beat them with Romo in a body cast. Which WR's were out? Who was on the oline? We'd have killed them if we had been healthy.

hard to argue this. good points and i feel that as well. Thats why the San Fran and the Skins game were important wins.

 

[JBS]

I think the key to this game is how well we can run the ball vs philly...i think people are expecting us to gash them on the ground..i do not think that is going to happen...i do no think we have to run for 200 to win though, we just need a balanced attack..

 

[btcutter]

Biggest key in Phili game is how we do in the Redzone. If we can't run and only depend on passing then we are playing into their strength. Doesn't mean we can't win that way but the percentages goes down.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

I think the key to this game is how well we can run the ball vs philly...i think people are expecting us to gash them on the ground..i do not think that is going to happen...i do no think we have to run for 200 to win though, we just need a balanced attack..

Concur. We get anywhere from 120-135 on the ground and Tony limits his altruistic tendencies with the ball and we should win this one.

 

[Zman5]

Concur. We get anywhere from 120-135 on the ground and Tony limits his altruistic tendencies with the ball and we should win this one.

If we can run, the chance of Bad Tony showing up will be lowered significantly. Because if we can run, Tony doesn't need to throw 40+ passes.

 

[EPL0c0]

Division game.. throw the stats and the records out the window.

 

[DL23]

The problem with Philly's run defense was allowing big plays due to poor tackling. If you look at their stats a little closer, you can see that for the most part, they're not half bad against the run. But there seems to be 1 or 2 long runs a game that really pads the stat sheet.

Look at week 2 vs the Falcons:

Turner: 21 carries, 114 yards, 1 TD. That's 5.4 yards a carry. Looks bad right?

Well Turner had a 61 yard run where Casey Matthews (benched) and Jarrad Page (benched) both missed the regulation tackle.

Take out that play, Turner had 20 carries for 53 yards. That's 2.65 yards per carry.

Bradshaw: 15 carries, 86 yards. That's 5.73 ypc. Looks bad right?

Bradshaw had a 37 yarder, which once again came after a missed tackle from Page. Take that play out and it's 14 carries for 49 yards, which is 3.5 ypc.

There are examples of this against the 9ers and Bills too I believe, I just can't be bothered to do any more math

I'm not discounting those plays whatsoever. All I'm saying is that if Philly cleans up their tackling, those are 10-15 yard pick ups, not 40, 50, 60 yarders. So the biggest problem with the Eagles defense against the run seems to be missing tackles and thus allowing long runs. I know I'm rambling here, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it's not like the Eagles are consistently giving up 5-6 yards per carry like many of the ESPN "analysts" (I can't even say that with a straight face) will tell you. The biggest difference between their defense the first 4-5 weeks compared to against the Commanders was that they didn't miss those tackles.

As Murray showed last week with his 91, 43 and 2x19 yard pick-ups, he can turn those missed tackles/band angles into big gainers. So it all depends on which Philly we get. Do we get the one from the first 4 or 5 weeks where they missed tackles? If that's the case, Murray is in for a good day. Or do we get the Philly that makes their tackles? In which case the ball may be in Romo's hand a lot more.

Just some food for thought.

**waits for SaltwatrServr to make Eagles fan accusations again **

 

[JBell]

Philly stopped the wide 9 vs the skins..thats what improved their run D..so i have heard at least

Came in to post this.

We'll see if their improved run d was indeed a product of that or just being able to stack the box against Grossman/Beck.

 

[JBell]

The problem with Philly's run defense was allowing big plays due to poor tackling. If you look at their stats a little closer, you can see that for the most part, they're not half bad against the run. But there seems to be 1 or 2 long runs a game that really pads the stat sheet.

Look at week 2 vs the Falcons:

Turner: 21 carries, 114 yards, 1 TD. That's 5.4 yards a carry. Looks bad right?

Well Turner had a 61 yard run where Casey Matthews (benched) and Jarrad Page (benched) both missed the regulation tackle.

Take out that play, Turner had 20 carries for 53 yards. That's 2.65 yards per carry.

Bradshaw: 15 carries, 86 yards. That's 5.73 ypc. Looks bad right?

Bradshaw had a 37 yarder, which once again came after a missed tackle from Page. Take that play out and it's 14 carries for 49 yards, which is 3.5 ypc.

There are examples of this against the 9ers and Bills too I believe, I just can't be bothered to do any more math

I'm not discounting those plays whatsoever. All I'm saying is that if Philly cleans up their tackling, those are 10-15 yard pick ups, not 40, 50, 60 yarders. So the biggest problem with the Eagles defense against the run seems to be missing tackles and thus allowing long runs. I know I'm rambling here, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it's not like the Eagles are consistently giving up 5-6 yards per carry like many of the ESPN "analysts" (I can't even say that with a straight face) will tell you. The biggest difference between their defense the first 4-5 weeks compared to against the Commanders was that they didn't miss those tackles.

As Murray showed last week with his 91, 43 and 2x19 yard pick-ups, he can turn those missed tackles/band angles into big gainers. So it all depends on which Philly we get. Do we get the one from the first 4 or 5 weeks where they missed tackles? If that's the case, Murray is in for a good day. Or do we get the Philly that makes their tackles? In which case the ball may be in Romo's hand a lot more.

Just some food for thought.

**waits for SaltwatrServr to make Eagles fan accusations again **

You can't just take away those big plays though.


All bad defenses consistently miss tackles and take poor angles. When you're doing it every game it's not a fluke, it's a trend.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

The problem with Philly's run defense was allowing big plays due to poor tackling. If you look at their stats a little closer, you can see that for the most part, they're not half bad against the run. But there seems to be 1 or 2 long runs a game that really pads the stat sheet.

Look at week 2 vs the Falcons:

Turner: 21 carries, 114 yards, 1 TD. That's 5.4 yards a carry. Looks bad right?

Well Turner had a 61 yard run where Casey Matthews (benched) and Jarrad Page (benched) both missed the regulation tackle.

Take out that play, Turner had 20 carries for 53 yards. That's 2.65 yards per carry.

Bradshaw: 15 carries, 86 yards. That's 5.73 ypc. Looks bad right?

Bradshaw had a 37 yarder, which once again came after a missed tackle from Page. Take that play out and it's 14 carries for 49 yards, which is 3.5 ypc.

There are examples of this against the 9ers and Bills too I believe, I just can't be bothered to do any more math

I'm not discounting those plays whatsoever. All I'm saying is that if Philly cleans up their tackling, those are 10-15 yard pick ups, not 40, 50, 60 yarders. So the biggest problem with the Eagles defense against the run seems to be missing tackles and thus allowing long runs. I know I'm rambling here, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it's not like the Eagles are consistently giving up 5-6 yards per carry like many of the ESPN "analysts" (I can't even say that with a straight face) will tell you. The biggest difference between their defense the first 4-5 weeks compared to against the Commanders was that they didn't miss those tackles.

As Murray showed last week with his 91, 43 and 2x19 yard pick-ups, he can turn those missed tackles/band angles into big gainers. So it all depends on which Philly we get. Do we get the one from the first 4 or 5 weeks where they missed tackles? If that's the case, Murray is in for a good day. Or do we get the Philly that makes their tackles? In which case the ball may be in Romo's hand a lot more.

Just some food for thought.

**waits for SaltwatrServr to make Eagles fan accusations again **

Will wait for you to run away like a pouting little ***** like you did the last time I put that out there.

Well, I'm not complacent like that. I'm allowed to be critical.

I think I'm going to spend some time away from this board. I enjoy having discussions with fellow fans, but I don't need to be criticized for not being a Cowboy-homer.

 

[DL23]

Will wait for you to run away like a pouting little ***** like you did the last time I put that out there.

Okay tough guy. Hey everyone, come look at how tough this guy is! He's calling some a ***** over the interwebz!!!1!!1

What's your point about my quote? It's completely out of context, you're trying to make it sound like I'm being a hypocrite (can give criticism but can't take it). But if you see my actual post, you'll see that I'm talking about being critical of the team, not a person on this board.

 

[DL23]

You can't just take away those big plays though.


All bad defenses consistently miss tackles and take poor angles. When you're doing it every game it's not a fluke, it's a trend.

I wasn't taking them away, per se. That was more just to indicate how teams weren't actually dominating them in the run game like the YPC stat indicated. Like I said, if they were to cut down those plays to 10-15 yards instead of 30+ there wouldn't be a thread about how bad the Eagles run D is. Question is whether they can cut those plays down? Remains to be seen.

It could be either (fluke or trend). Look at us last year when we went from Wade to Garrett. Exact same players, but then all of a sudden we started making the plays the guys wouldn't have earlier. It doesn't always take a drastic coaching change to make improvements. Coaching and changes in scheme can have a huge effect. Maybe that's what happened against Washington. They kept them to <50 yards rushing. Was it a fluke, or is that going to be a trend? Remains to be seen.