Paul Domowitch: Birds seem to prefer driving fast
The Eagles' big-play offense has kept its scoring drives short and sweet so far this season.
Through seven games, the Birds have scored 20 offensive touchdowns. Fourteen of those 20 drives have been four plays or fewer. Seven have been only one or two plays.
Just three of their touchdown drives have been longer than six plays. Only one has been longer than eight plays. That was a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive against Carolina way back in Week 1.
"It shows we can score on any given play," said tight end Brent Celek, whose team is third in the league in scoring (29 points per game) and leads the league in offensive plays of 40-plus yards (12). "It shows we can score at will. We've proven to teams around the league that we can be one of the greatest offenses out there."
With home-run threats on the outside like DeSean Jackson, who has racked up seven of those 12 40-plus-yard plays, including five for touchdowns, and rookie Jeremy Maclin, the Eagles clearly have proven they have big-strike capability. But the question for the moment is: What if the big strike ain't there? What happens when they meet up with a defense - maybe this week, maybe next week, maybe in the playoffs - that can take away the big play? Are they as capable of putting together an old-fashioned, 10-play, 80-yard scoring march as they are a one-play, 64-yarder?
"I would like to gain a little [more] efficiency," admitted offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. "I think we can do that. I think we can be an efficient offense. The offensive line is a little bit more healthy now. So I think that helps with the efficiency situation."
Offenses that can put together long drives are good red-zone teams, and the Eagles aren't a good red-zone team yet. They're 19th in the league in red-zone offense, converting just eight of 16 trips inside the 20 into touchdowns.
Right now, the longer the Eagles have the ball, the more their chances of scoring a touchdown decrease. They've had 10 scoring drives of more than six plays this year. Seven of them have ended in field goals, not touchdowns.
For comparison purposes, I took a look at the touchdown drives of three other high-octane offenses from the past - the '04 Eagles with T.O., the '07 Patriots who scored an NFL-record 589 points, and the '06 Super Bowl-champion Colts.
The '04 Eagles: Twenty-one of their 42 touchdown drives were longer than six plays. Just 14 were four plays or fewer. Five were two plays or fewer. Fifteen were nine-plus-play drives.
The '07 Patriots: Forty-two of 67 touchdown drives were longer than six plays. Just 13 were four plays or fewer. Only four were two plays or fewer. Thirty-two drives were nine plays or longer.
The '06 Colts: Thirty-four of 47 touchdown drives were longer than six plays. Just six were four plays or fewer. They didn't have a single one- or two-play touchdown drive the entire season. Twenty-five drives were nine plays or longer.
"I'll take 'em any way I can get 'em," coach Andy Reid said. "So, if they come quick, I'll take 'em quick. If they come long, I'll take 'em long. I don't care. As long as we're putting points up on the board, I don't care."
Defending the tight end
One of the reasons the Eagles are replacing Macho Harris with Sean Jones at free safety is because the 6-1, 220-pound Jones is better equipped physically to help with coverage on the tight end.
The Eagles fixed this problem in the second half of last season when the late Jim Johnson gave the tight-end coverage responsibilities mainly to strong safety Quintin Mikell and weakside linebacker Akeem Jordan. But the problem has resurfaced again this year. Opposing tight ends have caught five touchdown passes against the Eagles in the last four games and have averaged 102.7 receiving yards per game in those four games.
Last week, Giants tight end Kevin Boss had three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. Jones was victimized on one of those catches, picking up Boss late off the line and giving up a 22-yard catch-and-run.
This week, they must find a way to neutralize Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, whose 37 catches are tied with Brent Celek for most by an NFC tight end.
