Eagles will stress the Saints front 7 this week. (2 Viewers)

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Last week I felt the secondary would be the key to the win, this week the entire front 7 will need to pave the way.


The eagles run a lot of motion, horizontal plays, and read option. Eye and gap discipline will be important in the run fits and the DE's will need to maintain the edge to keep Hurts from getting outside of the pocket. If that happens too often DB's will lose their matchups attempting to cover for 5-6 seconds. Hurts is a true dual threat who can stand in the pocket and deliver the ball just as easily as he can throw it on the run or pick up the yards on his own. LB's need to not only play the run well, but also not get sucked in on PA leaving the MOF open for easy completions. Maybe Willie Gay plays a bigger role this week and helps, I'm not sure how DA will deploy them.

It's another game where an early lead will help solve the puzzle. Hurts won't put the ball up for grabs like Dak, but their offense will stress our tackling ability along w/ the other things mentioned.

 

[Filaphill]

The eagles are probably going to do allot of bear fronts to slow down the running game.

 

[Shotgunred]

I agree the Willie Gay will be very important this week. He has the speed and ability to deal with the threat of a mobile QB. That has been the Achilles heel of a Dennis Allen defense. Philly's wr group id not that much of a threat without AJ Brown, should have flexibility in that regard.

 

[motivation2k12]

We need to get up early and make them 1 dimensional

 

[saint_drago]

I agree the Willie Gay will be very important this week. He has the speed and ability to deal with the threat of a mobile QB. That has been the Achilles heel of a Dennis Allen defense. Philly's wr group id not that much of a threat without AJ Brown, should have flexibility in that regard.

Yep. Mobile QBs are a handful for any DC but some of them figure out a way to at least limit them a bit. As good as DA is he just can't even when it comes to mobile QBs. Hell they don't even have to be that mobile. Dan Marino with two blown out knees could power walk his way to a 1st down against our defense.

I'd like to hear from some of our experts around here about why DA has historically struggled with QBs running? What is it about his scheme that allows for that? I can understand a QB sneaking out when you're running man coverage and everyone has their back to the QB. But when it happens over and over and there's no adjustment, I don't get that. Seems like we're always watching a QB take off with 30 yards of green in front of him with Cam Jordan trailing.

 

[big screen D]

Yep. Mobile QBs are a handful for any DC but some of them figure out a way to at least limit them a bit. As good as DA is he just can't even when it comes to mobile QBs. Hell they don't even have to be that mobile. Dan Marino with two blown out knees could power walk his way to a 1st down against our defense.

I'd like to hear from some of our experts around here about why DA has historically struggled with QBs running? What is it about his scheme that allows for that? I can understand a QB sneaking out when you're running man coverage and everyone has their back to the QB. But when it happens over and over and there's no adjustment, I don't get that. Seems like we're always watching a QB take off with 30 yards of green in front of him with Cam Jordan trailing.

We play a LOT of man and man under coverage leaving us vulnerable to mobile QBs.

 

[SaintJ]

Nice thing is that we didn't show too much of our defensive playbook in the Dallas game, we got up so quickly that we stayed in base rush-four/cover-seven most of the second half.

They really miss AJ Brown when he doesn't play -- there's a big WR drop-off after Devanta Smith, and certainly no other deep threats, so I imagine we may have more blitz opportunities.

 

[St. Widge]

Yep. Mobile QBs are a handful for any DC but some of them figure out a way to at least limit them a bit. As good as DA is he just can't even when it comes to mobile QBs. Hell they don't even have to be that mobile. Dan Marino with two blown out knees could power walk his way to a 1st down against our defense.

I'd like to hear from some of our experts around here about why DA has historically struggled with QBs running? What is it about his scheme that allows for that? I can understand a QB sneaking out when you're running man coverage and everyone has their back to the QB. But when it happens over and over and there's no adjustment, I don't get that. Seems like we're always watching a QB take off with 30 yards of green in front of him with Cam Jordan trailing.

I'm no expert, but I think part of the problem for DA's defenses against mobile QBs is that he tends to play a lot of man defense which means the DBs have their backs to the QB and are slower to react to a QB running. I think another part of it is that DA tends to use bigger DEs which mean they don't have the speed to run down mobile QBs.

But, I think overall mobile QBs hurt every defensive scheme out there. You can account for zone run and other designed QB runs, but the ability to run on a broken play or create time to throw with the ability to run around is something that can't really be accounted for. It's the reason that so many teams draft guys that can really run with the hope that they can turn them into a very good pocket passer. Because if you can combine the two, you offense becomes virtually unstoppable. It's just very rare that you find a guy that can do both.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Nice thing is that we didn't show too much of our defensive playbook in the Dallas game, we got up so quickly that we stayed in base rush-four/cover-seven most of the second half.

They really miss AJ Brown when he doesn't play -- there's a big WR drop-off after Devanta Smith, and certainly no other deep threats, so I imagine we may have more blitz opportunities.

In-rewatching the game I saw an interesting wrinkle from Allen that I don't think I've seen before. He ran a bear or TNT front.

We had a Tackle over guard, a Nose over Center, and a Tackle over the other G. We flanked them with a down RDE and a stand-up rusher on the strong side. I like to run this front in madden w/ Cover 3 behind it.

Not having AJ Brown will help. PHI also runs plenty in-breaking routes and crossers. Our LB's aren't known for INT's but if there was ever a game it would be helpful for them to sink underneath a route and grab one, this would be the game.

 

[SaintStephen1]

Eagles will try to limit possessions with long time consuming drives that will frustrate Saints offense. Run defense could be the weak link that limits the Saints’ success this year.

 

[Paul]

I'm no expert, but I think part of the problem for DA's defenses against mobile QBs is that he tends to play a lot of man defense which means the DBs have their backs to the QB and are slower to react to a QB running. I think another part of it is that DA tends to use bigger DEs which mean they don't have the speed to run down mobile QBs.

But, I think overall mobile QBs hurt every defensive scheme out there. You can account for zone run and other designed QB runs, but the ability to run on a broken play or create time to throw with the ability to run around is something that can't really be accounted for. It's the reason that so many teams draft guys that can really run with the hope that they can turn them into a very good pocket passer. Because if you can combine the two, you offense becomes virtually unstoppable. It's just very rare that you find a guy that can do both.

This is an excellent assessment and as a non-expert myself, I’m inclined to agree. Hurts will get his yards on the ground, especially on plays where our fantastic secondary is pretty much covering everything. I also agree that the key is building up a decent lead to make them one dimensional and put their offense in panic mode.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

I'm no expert, but I think part of the problem for DA's defenses against mobile QBs is that he tends to play a lot of man defense which means the DBs have their backs to the QB and are slower to react to a QB running. I think another part of it is that DA tends to use bigger DEs which mean they don't have the speed to run down mobile QBs.

But, I think overall mobile QBs hurt every defensive scheme out there. You can account for zone run and other designed QB runs, but the ability to run on a broken play or create time to throw with the ability to run around is something that can't really be accounted for. It's the reason that so many teams draft guys that can really run with the hope that they can turn them into a very good pocket passer. Because if you can combine the two, you offense becomes virtually unstoppable. It's just very rare that you find a guy that can do both.

Yeah, need that spy. Perhaps this deserves a separate post...but anyone noticing the lack of an impact Bresee is having?

I'm really starting to see him as a 5Tech that reduces inside to 3Tech on passing downs, because on running downs as a DT he gets washed and tends to lose the leverage battle a good bit. Saw him on the ground a couple times last week and I haven't seen the jump from him I was expecting.

 

[SaintswonSBXLIV]

Last week I felt the secondary would be the key to the win, this week the entire front 7 will need to pave the way.


The eagles run a lot of motion, horizontal plays, and read option. Eye and gap discipline will be important in the run fits and the DE's will need to maintain the edge to keep Hurts from getting outside of the pocket. If that happens too often DB's will lose their matchups attempting to cover for 5-6 seconds. Hurts is a true dual threat who can stand in the pocket and deliver the ball just as easily as he can throw it on the run or pick up the yards on his own. LB's need to not only play the run well, but also not get sucked in on PA leaving the MOF open for easy completions. Maybe Willie Gay plays a bigger role this week and helps, I'm not sure how DA will deploy them.

It's another game where an early lead will help solve the puzzle. Hurts won't put the ball up for grabs like Dak, but their offense will stress our tackling ability along w/ the other things mentioned.

Hurts is tied for the league lead in interceptions. I agree with everything else you wrote. This will be a significant challenge for our front 7. Need to maintain eye discipline.

 

[cdogg]

Yeah, need that spy. Perhaps this deserves a separate post...but anyone noticing the lack of an impact Bresee is having?

I'm really starting to see him as a 5Tech that reduces inside to 3Tech on passing downs, because on running downs as a DT he gets washed and tends to lose the leverage battle a good bit. Saw him on the ground a couple times last week and I haven't seen the jump from him I was expecting.

I’ve seen the opposite from Breese

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

The eagles are probably going to do allot of bear fronts to slow down the running game.

I hope they do! Expect our WRs to feast.