Did Andrews shut down Cole?
Did Shawn Andrews single-handedly shut down Trent Cole on Sunday night? Here's the breakdown, along with notes on the Eagles' blitz and Sean McDermott's gameplan.
Did Andrews shut down Cole?
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
There are games in which Trent Cole doesn't fill up the stat sheet but still dominates.
For example, last week against the Redskins, Cole failed to pick up a sack and was credited with one quarterback hit. Yet, he was probably the Eagles' best defensive player and caused chaos all game.
Sunday's game at the Linc, however, was not one of those games.
Cole had perhaps his quietest outing of the season. And the Eagles' defense failed to register a sack for the first time all year.
In fact, it was the first time in 27 games the Eagles didn't have a sack. The last time it happened was coincidentally when the Birds beat the Giants in the playoffs after the 2008 season.
So the question is: Did Shawn Andrews single-handedly shut down Cole? And the answer is not really, although Andrews did play very well, minus the two holding penalties.
By my count, Eli Manning dropped back to pass 35 times. On nine of those occasions, Andrews was asked to block Cole one-on-one, and he more than held his own.
A variety of things happened on the other drop-backs. On some, a running back, tight end or extra lineman helped Andrews. On others, Cole twisted inside, and whoever was at defensive tackle twisted outside. Cole dropped back into coverage once. He wasn't on the field for six plays. And the Giants had Will Beatty on him at least once.
New York was also smart with its gameplan against Cole. If Manning needed time to find a receiver downfield, they were more likely to give Andrews help. If he was going to get rid of the ball quickly, the Giants were more likely to let Andrews block Cole one-on-one.
As for the defense as a whole, Sean McDermott blitzed Manning 11 times by my count. On those plays, he completed 6 of 10 passes for 66 yards and an interception.
When the Eagles held off on the blitz, Manning was 13-for-23 for 81 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
I only counted four times when McDermott zone-blitzed, a much lower number than usual. Darryl Tapp dropped back three times, Trevor Laws twice and Cole once. I was surprised to discover that Graham, who entered the game having dropped back into coverage more than any lineman other than Cole, didn't drop back a single time against the Giants.
Here is how much each defender blitzed:
| Player | No. of blitzes |
| Ernie Sims | 6 |
| Stewart Bradley | 5 |
| Quintin Mikell | 5 |
| Joselio Hanson | 3 |
| Keenan Clayton | 1 |
| Asante Samuel | 1 |
And the defensive line rotation:
| Player | Pct. of snaps |
| Trent Cole | 88.2% |
| Brandon Graham | 72.6% |
| Trevor Laws | 54.9% |
| Mike Patterson | 51.0% |
| Darryl Tapp | 41.1% |
| Antonio Dixon | 37.2% |
| Brodrick Bunkley | 35.3% |
| Juqua Parker | 15.7% |
Remember how complex McDermott's gameplan was against Peyton Manning and the Colts a couple weeks ago? It sure seemed like he simplified things for Eli and the Giants.
And the Eagles reached their goal of limiting the opponent to 17 points for the first time in three weeks and the fourth time this season.
In case you missed it, I posted Man Up on the defense earlier Monday.
Shawn Andrews is supremely talented. There's no question about that. But the reason the Eagles let him go is the back problem. He's not likely to last long. His back is already giving him problems again. The Eagles made the right decision.— soulman386- Shawn Andrews is a fat lazy slob. There's no question about that. But the reason the Eagles let him go is the head problem. He's not likely to last long. His head is already giving him problems again. The Eagles made the right decision.— dragoon6
- He's not a bad guy, and sports fans need to keep that in mind with the death wishes and hate mail the poor guy still gets. The point of any of us wishing we had his athletic ability and could play at the highest level is moot, we don't, he does, and he's doing with it what he wants. If you've never had legitimate back issues, you don't know how it feels to have the pain resonate through your whole body. He's gone, it should be a dead issue. I know he was an opponent this week, but let it be history.— Bleue
Juqua 15%? Why? He's doin well this year. Why didn't Graham drop back? Why were things simplified for the G-girls? Can we get a little conjecture with our stats please?- I miss the multicolored Mohawk hairdo? Each bipolar swing brought
a new elaborate color, some that i didn't even realize existed in the
color spectrum.
I think, the plan was to have Andrews singing to Cole, that would make
anyone want to puke, and to get sick?? it clearly worked?— mikey48 - Parker was injured early in the game. He probably would have been around 60% had he finished the game. Graham would have fallen to 50% or less.
Comment removed.- It is so much easier to neutralize a pass rusher when you have him in a full nelson. Where were the flag happy refs from the Indy game when you need them??
- PhillyMike and Mugwump are right. Shawn held on every play. He only got called twice, and in the NFL that's considered effective lineplay. Cole did his best. He doesn't get as many calls as he should. The bottom line is, the Eagles won, the defense got three interceptions, and Cole is the best player on the defense, including in that game. He has to live with what the refs do. Defensively it was a pretty good game plan. On the other hand, they were missing 3 all-pro players.— tacklinjoe
He held almost every single play. I am not one of the people who wish any ill toward Andrews, I hope he has a great life and a great career somewhere outside of the NFC, but my eyes see what my eyes see.- Shawn Andrews' injuries were, and still are, real. They're medically documented and serious. People ought to lay off the cheap shots.— p-diddy
- Really?!? If Shawn was still wearing Eagles green and playing every week, we would be voting him into the PB 6 ways to Saturday and then twice on Sunday. He is without a doubt, when his *cough cough* back is not bothering him and his head is *cough cough* on straight, one of the best lineman in the league and that is why he went to the PB twice as an Eagle at guard. I am not surprised at all that he minimized Cole's impact on the game, I predicted as such by Thursday of last week. He didn't even practice the 3 days before the game, what does that say about him going up against one of the most under-rated DL in the league and shutting him down, sans the 2 non-called holding penalties (I guarantee that if you did the research, almost every OL in the league gets away with at least 1 hold a game, if not 2). We got rid of him b/c at the time, you couldn't count on him to be ready and play every week. Not because he didn't have the capability to dominate. (And yes, I love the Eagles a-holes, keep your stupid comments to yourself if you do not like my objective opinion about the opposition).— The Reddgie
7-3..7-scum— MPatt24- Is that a walkman that Shawn Andrews is listening to??? Maybe he was listening to "Get My Michael Phelps on!!"...Anyways, I never had a problem with Andrews,I thought he had a lot of talent, I just thought once he got paid, he felt like he didn't have to neccesarily put that talent to use...It's a shame, but at least he isnt with the Eagles anymore.— Jerryiz
p-diddy, it's understandable to have injuries. It is another thing to be flaky and goofy. Then go to a division rival and hear qotes like"this is a real family atmosphere", when the former team went out of the was to pick up the guy's actual blood brother, to make him feel stable.— road515
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