Eagles' biggest concern: Who's opposite Asante?
The Eagles' biggest concern going into Sunday's matchup is who's going to start at right cornerback and how Sean McDermott's unit is going to deal with one of the most prolific passing attacks in the league.
Eagles' biggest concern: Who's opposite Asante?
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles have several questions on defense and less than seven days to find answers.
But the biggest concern of all is how this secondary is going to perform against Aaron Rodgers and the prolific Packers passing game.
The Green Bay quarterback will work on a gameplan this week, but part of it can already be simplified to this: attack whichever Eagles cornerback is playing opposite Asante Samuel.
That's been the gameplan for opposing quarterbacks for weeks now. In Tuesday night's loss to the Vikings, Joe Webb only threw in Samuel's direction a couple times.
The week before, Eli Manning targeted Dimitri Patterson time after time, burning him for three touchdowns, including two that were from more than 30 yards out.
That right cornerback is the team's biggest concern is hardly shocking. It was the biggest concern on defense when the team began training camp. And now, more than five months later, that hasn't changed.
The Eagles' strategy on defense last offseason was to improve its pass rush so that the secondary would not have to be great. But their moves did not do enough to cover up their weakness. It's worth mentioning that two of the guys they decided not to bring back - Jason Babin and Chris Clemons - have more sacks (12.5 and 11, respectively) than anyone on the Eagles roster. And that includes Trent Cole (10).
Now Sean McDermott has to make a decision at cornerback - Patterson or Joselio Hanson?
Both players insisted Sunday night that they don't know who is going to start. Neither guy provides the Eagles with an ideal matchup, and that's somewhat alarming when you consider the following five things:
1. Rodgers finished the season with the highest QB rating in the NFC at 101.2.
2. Rodgers had 40 completions of 25 yards or more and averaged 8.26 yards per attempt. Both were tops in the NFC.
3. Rodgers had a QB rating of 107.4 in the red zone.
4. Packers WR Greg Jennings has 403 yards after the catch, sixth-most among receivers.
5. Jennings had 21 plays of 20-plus yards, the same number as DeSean Jackson. He also led the NFC with 12 receiving touchdowns.
The numbers are not so flattering for the Eagles' defense. They gave up 30 touchdown passes (third-worst) and allowed opponents to convert red-zone opportunities into touchdowns 76.74 percent of the time (league-worst).
The challenge will be to limit Rodgers' big plays. In the first meeting, the Eagles gave up two plays of 20 yards or more in the passing game. I'm guessing McDermott would do the Dance of Joy if his unit repeated that performance this time around.
But he's probably not counting on it. On the season, the Eagles have given up 54 plays of 20-plus yards, ninth-most in the league. But maybe more importantly, that's the most the Birds have given up since NFL.com starting tracking the stat (1991).
With the game in six days, there's no time to pick up a free agent or find the right cornerback in the draft. McDermott has to pick his man and devise a gameplan to limit the damage. It's a tall task, and one way or another, will determine whether the Eagles get on the plane to Chicago or pack up their lockers for the offseason.
Programming note: No Man Up this week. I'm shifting focus to the Packers matchup. In the offseason, I'll take a look at the Week 17 game and have some notes on how the young guys looked.
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Patterson and Hanson can use fans' support. It won't help the guys during the week or the game to hear doubts. They got us here, so let's get behind them.— tacklinjoe
Sheil, your revelations are alarming but true and does not paint a pretty picture for what lies ahead. I just can't understand how the FO braintrust thought that this problem would fix itself or that they could disguise it. You can put Armour-All on old tires, but they're still old tires.- And we got rid of Sheldon Brown because...?— jrw723
- because he wasnt good anymore and he had a bad attitude — juggadore
- Wrong...becasue he was average and asked for more money. — K.D.
- On babin and clemons!they were scapegoats for mcdermott,obviously there's a problem here!he can blame injuries all he wants but everyteam has them, maybe if one guy played better i would say coincidence but both guys having better seasons. i dont know! i understand seattle is in a weak division but at 7 and 9 they're defense cant be all that good and he still had a good year.makes me wonder where the real problem is.— Geno D
- Hanson and Patterson are both going to have to play because GB will spread it out with 3 and 4 receiver sets.
Clemons(http://www.nfl.com/players/chrisclemons/profile?id=CLE390635) and Babin(http://www.nfl.com/players/jasonbabin/profile?id=BAB714004)?... Really?. They were nothing like they've been this year in their respective careers for the Eagles. As if it would've mattered...
This is another year where we see someone like Belicheck dominate when all we can do is pray a scrambling QB is our saviour.... as if- It's a shame Joe Banner's ego would not allow the Eagles front office to throw Sheldon Brown a bone, he would be better at CB than what we have. The Babbin and Clemmons success point out just how poor the ealges are at judging talent. If bunkley did not get hurt Dixon would still be on the bench as would chaney. McDermott has limited talent on D which may have sufficed under JJ but will spell doom for this team under McDermotts tenure because of Sean's poor game planning.— section117
- Let's not forget about that diamond in the rough that we drafted in the 3rd round. I believe he was at home laying in bed and staring at the ceiling when he was drafted. I mean, cmon. This front office is a joke and basically just loaded up on cash for the impending lockout. I wonder if the Eagles are going to have to pay a fine for operating so woefully below the standard salary cap, or is Mr Lurie going to get away with pocketing so much money. — papabear702
- Clemons was here with JJ and still did nothing, so it isn't McD's fault. Babin was a ghost with 3 other teams before coming to Philly and his big year in Tennesee. RELAX.— PHTNPHLS
- McDeerInHeadlights better be on top of his game this weekend and figure out how to double cover Jennings on every snap. The Pack have no running game so there shouldn't be any "peering into the backfield" on play-action by the safeties. Make old man Driver and James Jones beat you.— AndysBigBrain
Comment removed.- This is without a doubt the biggest concern entering this matchup. The thought of Patterson and Hanson against Rodgers and the Packers' receivers is downright frightening at best. If there was ever a week where McDermott needs to dial up the blitz early and often, it's this week
- Our D is terrible and I'm laying that at McDs feet. Seeing Clemons and Babin kill it makes me ill given we drafted 5 pass rushers this year, and no one of them are getting playing time. We are not going anywhere in the playoffs with ZERO D. O wins games and D wins championships.— rob808pf
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