For once in our lifetimes, Dallas defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is very quiet going into this Sunday night's prime time game against the Eagles.
That's because Ryan's defensive troops are about as beat up and depleted as the Eagles' offensive unit is right now…
Ryan knows the Eagles' passing attack is somewhat anemic right now and can't move the chains consistently, so look for him to design a game plan (eight-man fronts, zone run blitzes, stunts and twists) to force Philadelphia rookie quarterback Nick Foles to score points.
But the injury bug has been particularly virulent in the middle of the Dallas defense, where the Cowboys starting nose guard, middle linebackers, nickel corner and free safety are all out. In addition, Dallas will be missing at least one, if not both, of its starting defensive ends. Only five of twelve starters (including nickel corner as a starter) will be on the field against the Eagles on Sunday night.
Thus you will hear no crowing or bragging from Rob Ryan this week.
In addition, the Cowboys (5-6) will be missing several key backups. All-purpose defensive lineman Sean Lissemore continues to be limited in practice with a high ankle sprain, and two projected contributors, Orie Lemon and Matt Johnson, join seventh-rounder Caleb McSurdy on IR. Not only will the Cowboys be missing seven of twelve starters, but also key backups at positions where the starters have gone down are likewise lost for the year.
As a result, third and fourth-stringers on defense will play a lot of meaningful snaps against the Eagles.
Blogging the Boys.com put it very succinctly:
"Want to know what Sunday night's contest will look like when the Eagles have the ball? A lot like the third quarter of a preseason game, with an odd mixture of second- and third-stringers mixed in with some starters. The curious thing is that the match-ups will feature strength against strength on the perimeter and weakness against weakness through the middle. In September, looking forward to this game, I doubt many of us would have listed Josh Brent against Matt Tennant as one of the game's key match-ups. As with preseason games, the team that wins will be the one who has the best backups (or, in some cases, has done the best job of coaching up street free agents)."
On the Eagles' defensive side of the ball, two guys—3rd-year man Brandon Graham and rookie Vinny Curry— will be seeing a lot more action at left defensive end, the spot just vacated by the release of Jason Babin.
"I'm excited about this chance to really show what I can do,'' Graham said. "I've been working hard to make sure I would be ready if I ever got this chance."
"It's the beast of the business and nobody knows the decisions or why they made it,'' he added of Babin's release, "but I'm just going to take full advantage and go out there and work hard, play hard these last five games."
"My confidence got even more of a boost knowing that this is my shot, this is what I asked for, this is what I wanted. Now it's here and I've got to take full advantage."
Graham was a first-round pick in 2010, the 13th overall selection. He played decently as a rookie before a serious knee injury ended his season after 13 games, and he played in just three games last year as Babin, in his first season with the Eagles, recorded 18 sacks and was voted to the Pro Bowl.
Now Babin is gone and the job, at least for now, is Graham's. And he said he knows what he has to do and how he has to do it.
"Numbers and production," Graham said. "I can't just get to the quarterback, I have to get him. I have to play good on the run and that's what I'm working on all this week. I'm going to do extra sprints to make sure that I'm conditioned right, get myself together so I'll be ready for Dallas."
Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said Graham has made big strides this season in preparing and playing on the NFL level, something he lacked as a rookie.
"He's gotten better mentally,'' Bowles said. "I think he was a little immature [as a rookie] and then, coming back from the injury, he was probably a little hesitant. His work ethic has picked up. He's an intelligent player and this is kind of learning the tricks of the trade as you go.
"Brandon, he's tough, he's relentless, and the more he plays the better he gets. We're looking for good things from Brandon as we go forward."
Graham is excited about the chance to start, whereas Curry is excited about the chance to just play. He was selected in the second round of April's draft, and it was expected that he would become an immediate part of the defensive line rotation.
But week after week went by and he was deactivated on game day every time, and suddenly people were saying that he was another one of Reid's draft-day busts.
Curry finally got to suit up on Monday night against Carolina and made the most of his opportunity — he was in the game for 21 snaps and made five tackles. That performance, more than anything else, showed the Eagles that Babin was expendable.
"I thought he played hard,'' Bowles said of Curry's NFL debut. "He's got some technical things to clean up, but he found the football and that's always a good thing."
Curry tried to be patient while he worked hard in practice and had to watch on game day, but he admits it wasn't always easy, especially with the Eagles losing and the defensive line having problems getting to the quarterback.
"I was definitely excited,'' he said. "It's something that, you know, you've been playing football all of your life to get to this point."
But Curry also said he made a concerted effort to keep his emotions in check against the Panthers and not get too excited.
"When you let that get the best of you, you try to do too much,'' he said. "And trying to do too much will lead to you going back to the bench."
If Curry plays the rest of the season as he played on Monday night, that shouldn't be a problem. He showed what he can do and now the Eagles are eager to see more of that.
"He's going to be a great player," defensive end Trent Cole said. "I see a lot of potential in him. As he progresses and gets time to get in there and play, he's going to have an impact for our team."
Everyone knows that this is a lost season for the Eagles and they also know that there will be many changes next season and players like Graham and Curry will be a big part of that.
"I think it's good to see the younger guys, see what they can do,'' Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "Of course, these guys have shown some type of promise — that's why they're here. It's good for those guys. I'm happy for them that they actually get an opportunity to show to the world what they can do in the league."
For once in our lifetimes, Dallas defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is very quiet going into this Sunday night's prime time game against the Eagles.
That's because Ryan's defensive troops are about as beat up and depleted as the Eagles' offensive unit is right now…
Ryan knows the Eagles' passing attack is somewhat anemic right now and can't move the chains consistently, so look for him to design a game plan (eight-man fronts, zone run blitzes, stunts and twists) to force Philadelphia rookie quarterback Nick Foles to score points.
But the injury bug has been particularly virulent in the middle of the Dallas defense, where the Cowboys starting nose guard, middle linebackers, nickel corner and free safety are all out. In addition, Dallas will be missing at least one, if not both, of its starting defensive ends. Only five of twelve starters (including nickel corner as a starter) will be on the field against the Eagles on Sunday night.
Thus you will hear no crowing or bragging from Rob Ryan this week.
In addition, the Cowboys (5-6) will be missing several key backups. All-purpose defensive lineman Sean Lissemore continues to be limited in practice with a high ankle sprain, and two projected contributors, Orie Lemon and Matt Johnson, join seventh-rounder Caleb McSurdy on IR. Not only will the Cowboys be missing seven of twelve starters, but also key backups at positions where the starters have gone down are likewise lost for the year.
As a result, third and fourth-stringers on defense will play a lot of meaningful snaps against the Eagles.
Blogging the Boys.com put it very succinctly:
"Want to know what Sunday night's contest will look like when the Eagles have the ball? A lot like the third quarter of a preseason game, with an odd mixture of second- and third-stringers mixed in with some starters. The curious thing is that the match-ups will feature strength against strength on the perimeter and weakness against weakness through the middle. In September, looking forward to this game, I doubt many of us would have listed Josh Brent against Matt Tennant as one of the game's key match-ups. As with preseason games, the team that wins will be the one who has the best backups (or, in some cases, has done the best job of coaching up street free agents)."
On the Eagles' defensive side of the ball, two guys—3rd-year man Brandon Graham and rookie Vinny Curry— will be seeing a lot more action at left defensive end, the spot just vacated by the release of Jason Babin.
"I'm excited about this chance to really show what I can do,'' Graham said. "I've been working hard to make sure I would be ready if I ever got this chance."
"It's the beast of the business and nobody knows the decisions or why they made it,'' he added of Babin's release, "but I'm just going to take full advantage and go out there and work hard, play hard these last five games."
"My confidence got even more of a boost knowing that this is my shot, this is what I asked for, this is what I wanted. Now it's here and I've got to take full advantage."
Graham was a first-round pick in 2010, the 13th overall selection. He played decently as a rookie before a serious knee injury ended his season after 13 games, and he played in just three games last year as Babin, in his first season with the Eagles, recorded 18 sacks and was voted to the Pro Bowl.
Now Babin is gone and the job, at least for now, is Graham's. And he said he knows what he has to do and how he has to do it.
"Numbers and production," Graham said. "I can't just get to the quarterback, I have to get him. I have to play good on the run and that's what I'm working on all this week. I'm going to do extra sprints to make sure that I'm conditioned right, get myself together so I'll be ready for Dallas."
Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said Graham has made big strides this season in preparing and playing on the NFL level, something he lacked as a rookie.
"He's gotten better mentally,'' Bowles said. "I think he was a little immature [as a rookie] and then, coming back from the injury, he was probably a little hesitant. His work ethic has picked up. He's an intelligent player and this is kind of learning the tricks of the trade as you go.
"Brandon, he's tough, he's relentless, and the more he plays the better he gets. We're looking for good things from Brandon as we go forward."
Graham is excited about the chance to start, whereas Curry is excited about the chance to just play. He was selected in the second round of April's draft, and it was expected that he would become an immediate part of the defensive line rotation.
But week after week went by and he was deactivated on game day every time, and suddenly people were saying that he was another one of Reid's draft-day busts.
Curry finally got to suit up on Monday night against Carolina and made the most of his opportunity — he was in the game for 21 snaps and made five tackles. That performance, more than anything else, showed the Eagles that Babin was expendable.
"I thought he played hard,'' Bowles said of Curry's NFL debut. "He's got some technical things to clean up, but he found the football and that's always a good thing."
Curry tried to be patient while he worked hard in practice and had to watch on game day, but he admits it wasn't always easy, especially with the Eagles losing and the defensive line having problems getting to the quarterback.
"I was definitely excited,'' he said. "It's something that, you know, you've been playing football all of your life to get to this point."
But Curry also said he made a concerted effort to keep his emotions in check against the Panthers and not get too excited.
"When you let that get the best of you, you try to do too much,'' he said. "And trying to do too much will lead to you going back to the bench."
If Curry plays the rest of the season as he played on Monday night, that shouldn't be a problem. He showed what he can do and now the Eagles are eager to see more of that.
"He's going to be a great player," defensive end Trent Cole said. "I see a lot of potential in him. As he progresses and gets time to get in there and play, he's going to have an impact for our team."
Everyone knows that this is a lost season for the Eagles and they also know that there will be many changes next season and players like Graham and Curry will be a big part of that.
"I think it's good to see the younger guys, see what they can do,'' Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "Of course, these guys have shown some type of promise — that's why they're here. It's good for those guys. I'm happy for them that they actually get an opportunity to show to the world what they can do in the league."