Battle of the Birds

While fans continue to soak in the pure delight of a divisional thrashing like this past Thanksgiving against a top ranked Cowboys team, and while players enjoy enjoyed their four-day Thanksgiving break, Chip Kelly and his staff have already set their sights on one of the toughest opponents in the NFC.

They also happened to have won a Super Bowl earlier this year.

The Seattle Seahawks are going to be the strongest test the Eagles have faced all season, and they happen to be playing shut-down defensive football.

“Obviously, they’re coming off a Super Bowl a year ago—sometimes that can be a long time ago—but their last two games specifically, they have been outstanding. They held—their last two opponents have scored three points in back-to-back games…” Kelly explained on the 94WIP Morning Show.

For those of you that don’t remember, the Seahawks possess the league’s best defense and running game. As if this feat itself isn’t enough to contend with, the two teams that the Seahawks held to three points in those back-to-back games were the Cardinals and the 49ers; both of which defeated the Eagles in a fairly dominating fashion although the scores remained close.

Ironically, the Eagles are also coming off of an impressive two-game win streak of their own that featured a dominating defense and running game. After dismantling the Tennessee Titans and the rival Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles have certainly proved that they can play with the best of teams when they are clicking on all cylinders; all of which begin and end with LeSean McCoy and the Eagles offensive line.

In the past two-games, McCoy has found his stride and his offensive line is, by far, the largest reason for his recent success. The injuries that plagued this team since week one of the regular season have finally begun to heal, with the exception of starting RG Todd Herremans (bicep) who has been adequately replaced by the likes of Matt Tobin, who has taken huge leaps and bounds ahead of where he was at the beginning of the season. The Eagles front-line have finally seemed to return to the level of play that allowed McCoy to lead the league in rushing just last season.

Just in time to face a stout rushing defense.

Needless to say, getting significant production out of the ground game against the Seahawks isn’t going to be an easy task but the alternative isn’t going to be easy either. Mark Sanchez is going to have to prove his performance against the Cowboys wasn’t just a fluke as the league’s 2nd ranked pass defense comes into Philadelphia as well. This isn’t some overachieving defense with a good scheme. With a secondary that features Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor, Sanchez may find passing lanes and open receivers difficult to come by.

Schematically, the Seahawks play man-coverage about 60-percent of the time, which allows Sherman to assert his skills on one side of the field and, although he isn’t having the shut-down season he had last year, he is still playing at an all-pro level. Kam Chancellor is the enforcer of the Seahawks defensive unit and can be mistaken as a box safety to the untrained eye. Chancellor is, indeed, more of a run support safety but his coverage ability is tested constantly and he has yet to display a weakness great enough to exploit now that he is healthier than he was during the beginning of the season.

Earl Thomas is widely known as the best safety in the league with the coverage ability and the speed of a corner, which sounds a lot like a young Ed Reed. Even though the Seahawks play a lot of man-to-man coverage, their version of the 4-3 defense has a ‘Cover 3’ look that constantly forces quarterbacks to double take on non-crossing patterns.

Even if Eagles pass catchers do manage to snag a couple throws, the Seahawks defense doesn’t allow many runners to get too far before they hit the ground. All in all, the Eagles offense is going to need another dominating effort on the offensive line if they hope to score even 20 points, which would be 2 points above the Seahawks defensive scoring average (18.4). Luckily for the Eagles, they average 31 points per game and haven’t scored less than 20 points in any game this season. So the trend seems to be favorable toward the Eagles even though one could back up the idea that this would be the game that this trend could end.

Offensively, the Seahawks may not be as explosive as they were just one year ago, but they are getting the job done week-in and week-out. Led by Russell Wilson and Mr. Beast Mode himself, Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks have managed to score 30 points or more only three times this season compared to eight times by the Eagles. However, Wilson and Lynch have combined to run for 13 touchdowns on designed runs or scrambles this season. The receiving corps for the Seahawks does not feature any game changing wide-outs but Seattle’s play-action passes down the field are a weapon that cannot be ignored. Wilson’s decision-making is just about as good as it gets in today’s league and can make every throw expected of a Super Bowl winning quarterback as well.Without Demeco Ryans in the front-seven, Casey Matthews and Emmanuel Acho will take up the huge responsibility of calling the defensive shots; A task that they have proven capable of handling before.

Whatever Chip Kelly has up his sleeve this week, it will be a defining moment in the Eagles season as well. A win against an NFC power like the Seahawks could also aide the Eagles in the race to win the NFC East because the Cowboys defeated the Seahawks earlier in the season. The Seahawks could also be seen as the most talented team to remain on the Eagles schedule besides a rematch with the Cowboys the week after the Seahawks game (definitely a brutal three week stretch).

Kelly has proven on a consistent basis that, come game day, his team can be and usually is adequately prepared for their scheduled opponents. This week should be no different based on past happenings, but there is always that eerily familiar feeling that Eagles fans get when they get their hopes up too high. The feeling of high expectations can be a confidence booster in the eyes of fans but it can also be a great burden for players. Its time to find out if the Eagles have what it takes to succeed against the best of the best.