Eagles Eye Preview

We did a Q&A Exchange with Bloguin Network’s Philly Site, Eagles Eye.

Here are the 7 things that the Eagles will see in 2014 from the Gmen that they did not see last year.

Below in this post are UltimateNYG’s questions posed to Tom Jackson with his answers.

Tom- Hi Andrew! Thanks for the opportunity to once again share our thoughts on yet another Giants-Eagles rivalry clash….

1) Can the Eagles get pressure on Eli, given that his holding time for the ball has dropped from 2.7 secs to 2.0 secs, frustrating opposing defensive pass rushers?

I think the answer to that depends a lot on how well the Eagles linebackers and corners can hold their coverages (I guess “hold” is not the best choice of words there!) on Eli’s short and intermediate receivers. If there’s such as a thing as a “coverage sack”, I guess you could say there is also “coverage pressure”— and that extra half-second where a passing lane is crowded by a defender will probably be the edge the Eagles pass rushers need to get inside Eli’s comfort zone.

Defensive coordinator Bill Davis has been calling a lot more blitz pressures lately from a lot of different angles, too. I’m sure the Giants have seen those on tape and are prepared for them.

2) The way we see it, there is only one thing that matters- does the Eagles OL hold up? The Eagles have lost (suspended/injured) an OL one each week. Do they give LeSean McCoy the opportunity to run the ball?

The biggest OL loss to the Eagles has been their center Jason Kelce, who kind of quarterbacked the Eagles’ former run-blocking success with smart pre-snap adjustments and really good downfield blocking of his own. His replacement David Molk is a good athlete but is still learning the position at this level.

Shady McCoy has been virtually shut out in the past few games for two main reasons— opposing defenses know the play that’s coming when McCoy lines up, and when McCoy does hit a hole it closes on him rapidly. Instead of lowering his body and taking what’s there, McCoy has reverted to an old habit of side-stepping. He’s frustrated, the team is frustrated— if there’s such a thing as a “slump” in football, then McCoy and the Eagles O-Line is in one.

3) Is Nick Foles showing his true colors? Is the 2013 version real or is it the 2014 version? Or is it simply because the OL is in tatters here in 2014?

Clearly to me Nick Foles is the illustration in the Football 101 chapter which says you need a productive running game to establish your passing game. That’s basically what’s happening with Foles this year. Nobody is buying his play-action fakes anymore. Nobody is sold on his read-option fakes, either. Combine the effects of a diminished running game with the fact that opposing defenses are dropping a safety down in the box and really bringing a full-bore pass rush on Foles nearly every series, and the result is Foles is getting beat up back there—and when he does have a clean pocket, his not-so-speedy receivers are usually well-covered downfield. Foles has admitted he is forcing some throws this year that last year he would have held onto or checked down to an outlet.

Maybe the Eagles and Foles are paying the price of failing to replace DeSean Jackson as a stretch factor on the outside. All I know is the secondary Foles sees this season so far is really bunched up against him.

It would help if Foles were fast enough to turn the corner and run out of pressure to keep defenses more honest. But he is relatively slow-of-foot.

4) We don’t see the Eagles Defense as being particularly physical. Can they handle the hard running of Andre Williams?

I don’t know, but we are about to find out… With regards to the physicality of the Eagles defensive line, I think it’s evident in the big guys like Cedric Thornton, Bennie Logan, Fletcher Cox, Beau Allen… the real question is their ability and quickness as they deal with their double-gap contain assignments.

I’m more concerned with what happens when Andre Williams breaks into the second level. The Eagles are hurting a little right now at inside linebacker— Mychal Kendricks and DeMeco Ryans are both banged up but are expected to play—and outside linebackers Trent Cole and Connor Barwin will be occupied with the edges. Safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Nate Allen will have their physicality tested in run support, that’s a given.

5) How should the Giants gameplan vs the Eagles?

If I’m in Tom Coughlin’s head, I want to pound the rock and throw tons of play-action— I want to burn up as much clock on offense as I can. I want to keep the Eagles defense on the field for as long as possible—I would strive for a 40-minute time-of-possession goal…yes, I know that’s an extreme way to put it, but you get the idea.

When the Giants are on defense, they need to get as much pressure as they can muster at the point of attack. The Eagles are going to run a no-huddle, so defensive personnel substitutions will be limited—and the Giants better have a good idea of who their best 3-down guys are to start each series. I would run some combination of zone and press coverage— keep Foles guessing. Most of all, pile up as many 3rd-down stops as possible. Hold the Eagles to field goals. Take the crowd out of the game, too.

Oh yeah—and kick the ball away from Darren Sproles…

6) Do you think the Eagles hold off the resurgent Cowboys and Giants teams to win the division?

I think it will all come down to the final week. There are a lot of tough games left for all three teams on their schedules. It’s too early for the Eagles to even proclaim a division lead. In my mind nothing will really be settled until Week 17. Heck, even the Redskins can stack a few wins in a row and be right back in this thing.

7) Final Score?

This is the hardest part of an Andy Furman interview! He always makes you predict a final score!

Going back at least 7 years now with Andy and the Ultimate NYG gang, I’ve always tried to be as objective as possible with this part of the interview. Many times I have predicted a Giants victory based upon the available evidence.

This weekend, I don’t know exactly what it is— maybe, as Buck Showalter said last week when he intentionally walked the potential winning run against Detroit and got a game-ending double-play, it’s “karma”— but I am feeling a 20-17 overtime win for the Eagles after an exhausting back-and-forth struggle. Somehow a booth review ends up deciding the game.

Thanks Tom for being a great read as always. If the Gmen can avoid getting roasted alive by Special Teams, I think they will win the game. See you on Twitter Sunday night.  Play the game!