Man Up: Eagles' defense vs. the Bucs
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Man Up: Eagles' defense vs. the Bucs
We did the offense earlier this week, and now the defense. A player-by-player look at how Sean McDermott's unit performed against the Bucs.
Of note -- by my count, Moises Fokou was the only active defensive player to not see the field during the first half.
Victor Abiamiri – He was called for a 15-yard penalty for a blow to the head on Josh Johnson in the third quarter. Overall, a quiet game from Abiamiri. He picked up a sack in the fourth quarter and could have been credited with half a sack on the next play.
Juqua Parker- He did a great job disrupting a Bucs option attempt on third down during their first drive. Parker missed a tackle on a 28-yard Derrick Ward run at the end of the second quarter.
Mike Patterson – He got good pressure on the first play of the game to force Johnson to move out of the pocket. Patterson also stuffed Cadillac Williams for a short gain in third quarter.
Broderick Bunkley – Great first half for Bunkley. He was all over the place, stuffing Williams for a loss in the first quarter and dropping him for a 2-yard loss in the second. Bunkley tackled Ward for a loss on 2nd-and-1 in the second quarter.
Antonio Dixon – The coaching staff chose to make him active over Trevor Laws and Dixon was on the field quite a bit. Primarily used as a run-stuffer, he replaced Bunkley in the first quarter and replaced Patterson later in the game.
Trent Cole – His eight tackles led the Eagles as Cole continues to show week after week that he is a well-rounded defensive end. He got good pressure on Johnson during a third-down play in the first quarter and slammed Johnson for a loss on an option play in the second. He picked up a sack t the end of the second quarter and could have had another that was negated by a penalty. On the downside, he was offsides on a 3rd-and-5 in the second quarter to give the Bucs a first down.
Darren Howard – He got good pressure on Johnson to force an incompletion in the third quarter. Despite being one of the Eagles' most effective pass rushers, Howard came untouched in the third quarter to pressure Johnson and force an incompletion. Credit McDermott on that one.
Jeremiah Trotter – The Axe Man returned to the field and was in at middle linebacker on the first play of the game, and had to drop back into coverage. Trotter replaced Omar Gaither at various times on first down and in short yardage. Trotter came on a blitz on the Bucs' third drive, but couldn't get any pressure on Johnson. He took a stiff arm from Cadillac Williams and was unable to make the tackle on a play later in the game. Three tackles overall.
Omar Gaither – He came in on the game’s second play and did a nice job stopping Williams on a 2-yard run. Gaither stuffed Williams for a 3-yard loss later in the quarter and stopped Ward on a third down. In coverage, he deflected a pass and almost came up with a pick in the third.
Chris Gocong – He came untouched on a blitz off the right end to tally his first sack of the season in the first quarter. Gocong was called for pass interference trying to keep up with Kellen Winslow in the third. He missed a tackle after getting beat by Winslow in the fourth.
Akeem Jordan - Another solid outing from Jordan. One of the Eagles' most consistent defensive players through the first four games. He brought good pressure as a blitzer off the edge in the first quarter, forcing a Johnson incompletion. Jordan did a good job blowing up a blocker and dropping Ward for a loss. He twice deflected Johnson passes as a blitzer.
Tracy White – For the second game in a row, he saw action in the nickel package. White came up the middle on blitzes on a pair of plays in the second quarter, getting good pressure on Johnson.
Sheldon Brown – He got beat deep by Michael Clayton on the game’s first play, but Johnson couldn't connect. Brown contributed to a Clayton drop with a big hit on a third down in the first quarter. It looked like Antonio Bryant might have been his responsibility on 31-yard reception in the second quarter, but it's tough to tell from TV. It also could have been misread by Macho Harris. Came up with his third interception of the season.
Asante Samuel - He broke up a pass intended for Bryant in the second quarter. Samuel was called for 15-yard face mask trying to bring down Ward on a big gain in the second. Two interceptions give him three on the season.
Ellis Hobbs – He replaced Brown during a drive in the second quarter and nailed tight end Jerramy Stevens to force an incompletion. However, Hobbs injured himself in the process.
Joselio Hanson – He was matched up with Winslow in the fourth quarter and got beat inside on a 14-yard gain.
Dimitri Patterson – I was surprised to see him in the game, but Patterson came in twice as a blitzer in the first half. The first time, he was flagged for being offsides. A little anxious, perhaps?
Macho Harris - Not a good day for Macho. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty in the second quarter negated a Cole sack and kept the defense on the field. It looked like he played a role on a 31-yard pass to Bryant in the second quarter. And Harris was beat by Winslow for a 24-yard gain over the middle in the second quarter and again on the 9-yard touchdown in second.
Sean Jones - He came in as a blitzer on at least three occasions. Jones actually got good pressure up the middle on Johnson to help cause the second Samuel interception.
Quintin Mikell - Pretty quiet day for Mikell. He made a good tackle on Winslow to stop him short of a first down in the third quarter and force a Bucs punt. He was beat inside by Winslow on the 9-yard touchdown in fourth quarter.
Nice analysis. Macho has alot to work on and the lack of coverage skills of our LB + him means teams will attack us with their TE (like that's anything new...). Let's see what McDermott comes up with to mask that deficiency.— Raj- Macho stinks— Big Ragu
- ... i care... =|— oTTo the CzAR
Great breakdown! Hey Nizzies, go back to reading the gossip columns if you aren't intested in some actual reporting.— soybot- Only two preseason games left!— mikechris
- I care too oTTo. I'm also very afraid of tight ends, apparently we have to double cover all of them.— Bex
- This is why the Macho Harris experiment needs to end now. It looks like I'm watching Sean Considine out there getting lost in coverage. Please don't try to sell us the macho man for two years and then quietly replace him when it's been apparent for some time that he's not the answer. Mikell should have been moved to free safety, and Sean Jones should have been plugged in as the strong safety. That way, Jones would be playing to his strength. Make it happen before we play the NFC East.— farside37
- Haven't seen enough games to offer an opinion on anyone, but there appears to be some loose ends to tie off on the Defense, just sayin'...— DJ
- agree with farside37. it's only the fourth game and it's apparent eagles secondary cannot cover. FS and linebackers are woefull at coverage. neither corner comes thru in the clutch. just my opinion.— JACK V
- gocong even looks bad making that tackle on the bucks q.b. (second picture). the guy has never learned the linebacker position and cannot cover anyone on a pass route. when mcdermot makes his changes before the giants game i'm predicting gogong becomes 2nd string replaced by white.— JACK V
- Good analysis Sheil Kapadia on the defensive players but what is going on with Trevor Laws? I mean even in the offseason they thought of bringing in Hollis Thomas to fill the spot that Trevor Laws should fill. Is he hurt or is he just that bad when he gets on the field? I can't recall him him making any mistake but then again I can't recall him making any plays either LOL.— Nothing but the truth
- we will see how Macho grows....he has tow more games before he gets a good quarterback...the change for a rookie in the complexity and the speed of the game is giagantic....but he is a comer and a winner....and he is in there because there is no one else better.....— nuggett
- Always astounds me when someone here makes a comment like 'who cares.' If you really don't care, why make a comment at all?! I, too, am wondering about Laws. Seems like he may be a bust. What's the deal with him? Not a good sign that he gets replaced by an undrafted rookie who was claimed off waivers about a week before the season started.— derrickh
- Macho has been disappointing thus far. The secondary gets torched against the win-less Bucs at that. I agree, might be time to move Mikell to FS and start Sean Jones at strong safety. Every Linebacker with the exception of Jordan is horrible in coverage and with the suspect secondary it might be long days ahead.
- Relax about the TE people. Winslow was the hot read on the blitz, and seriously, what LB or safety can cover Winslow mano-y-mano? Bottom line is that the Birds limited the Bucs to 14 points and won the game. Chill.— PhillyPhantastico
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