Getting Defensive: What the Eagles Defense NEED to beat the Saints

The Eagles defense deserves an award for the best impersonation of a bad defense. Its almost unheard of for a defense ranked 29th against the pass to qualify for the playoffs. Its also unheard of for a defense to to play as many snaps as they did and not rank 31st against the pass. With a coach that does not put any stock in the time of possession statistics, the Eagles quick paced offense scored early and often in most cases with little time for the defense to rest and plenty of reason for the opposing offense to play catch up almost as soon as the first quarter ended. The Eagles run defense has proved rather worthy though, as they are ranked 10th in the league, which is nothing to sneeze at for a recently converted 3-4 defense.

Regardless of how far the Eagles defense has come in such a short time, if the Eagles are going to have any chance of defeating the Saints and advance in the playoffs, they are going to have to accomplish 4 defensive tasks that will, no doubt, be very difficult for any NFL defense. Trust me, you won’t necessarily be thrilled with the list.

1. Dominate the Line of Scrimmage – Easier said than done right? The Eagles have proved time and again that any quarterback in the NFL can pick a defense apart when he has time to go through his reads. Kyle Orton had about as much pressure over the course of the game during week 17 as he did when he sat in the film room with his offensive coaches (zero), but when the Eagles decided to forced Orton to choose a progression he didn’t want… Good catch Boykin! The reason this is so important is because Brees is no overpaid back-up quarterback. He makes all his money fair and square torching NFL defenses. Give Brees time in the pocket and the Eagles defense may as well play with cement bricks on their feet. Brees is a Hall-of-Famer and if you want to see how those guys score points, go take a look at that week 4 match-up with Peyton. The Eagles also need to continue their success in stopping the run. The last thing that the Eagles need is a Saints team that gains confidence running the football. That would be too much for the Eagles offense to overcome.
2. LIMIT Graham to a GOOD game – Eagles fans, lets be honest. Jimmy Graham is a beast. If you thought Jason Witten out of his prime was bad, wait until the NFL’s leading touchdown catcher runs his patented seam route. Mychal Kendricks will need a 6-inch growth spurt and a corner’s covering skills to shutdown Graham but if he can limit him and prevent him from enjoying the success he has had over the course of the past few seasons, the Eagles may hold Drew’s favorite target to ONE touchdown. Scary…
3. Lockdown the RB’s routes – Want to know a crazy fact? The Saints have two RB’s with 70+ catches on the season (just when you thought things couldn’t get tougher). The Saints offense resembles Andy Reid’s old West Coast Eagles offense in the idea that they substitute legitimate run plays for short passes. That IS their running game. In this sense, taking what the defense gives you underneath has resulted in some hefty catch totals for the Saints backfield. The Saints have had the ability to dump the ball off in the screen game and short passing game for 4-8 yards consistently all season. If the Eagles want to win, they are going to have to cover every eligible receiver on the Saints team. Missing tackles won’t work this week. Trent Cole will definitely be dropping into coverage this time and he WILL be targeted. Wait for it.
4. Force turnovers / Prevent Defensive Penalties – This task can otherwise be summarized as playing fundamentally sound football. Giving a prolific offense free yards is never a good idea, especially when they are already primed to steal some from you. Still, there is something to be said for a defense that bends and doesn’t break. The only way the Eagles can bend and not break is to make sure they aren’t bending themselves with costly penalties and to take possession of the football for extra offensive opportunities. Kyle Orton’s hard count in week 17 bought the cowboys free plays that got them out of tough play-calls. The Eagles offense will not be facing a bottom 5 passing defense and any extra chances on a short field could prove to be the difference. The Eagles defense has been very opportunistic this season. Its time to cash-in that experience and win the turnover battle Chip Kelly style.

No one said the Eagles would have an easy road to victory. Even while accomplishing all these tasks, the Eagles could very well end up in a late game situation with the ball in either team’s hands for the game-winning drive but I would prefer having my own destiny in my hands than playing for nothing after 55 minutes. The Eagles defense will have their hands full this week against a top flight offensive juggernaut but DC Billy Davis has proved that this defense has heart, conditioning, and potential, if nothing else. Now, that won’t be enough to stop the Saints, but it might be enough to beat them.