Man Up: Trotter gets 2nd-half snaps
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Man Up: Trotter gets 2nd-half snaps
Filed Under: NFL Draft
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Cowboys tight end Jason Witten had six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)
Before we get to Man Up, I charted the Eagles' defensive snaps yesterday to get a better idea of how much they blitzed, how effective they were when they blitzed, etc.
Tomorrow I'll post the breakdown, and we can start making some guesses about what Sean McDermott's gameplan will be Saturday night.
But first, here's the player-by-player breakdown of how the Eagles' defense performed:
Juqua Parker - No pressure from the Eagles' defensive line all game. Parker picked up a meaningless sack late in the fourth quarter, but otherwise did nothing to make Tony Romo uncomfortable. The Cowboys directed their rushing attack to Parker's side and had success. There was a 32-yard Marion Barber run in the first where Parker could not get off his block. And he rushed off the edge on a delayed handoff, creating a hole for a Barber 8-yard run. Parker made a couple nice plays against the run, but was ineffective overall.
Mike Patterson - The Cowboys double-teamed him on the 32-yard Barber run in the first. They had some success blocking him one-one-one also on gains of 11 yards and 8 yards, respectively. Patterson improved in the second half, stuffing Felix Jones on a pair of plays. He picked up a sack in the fourth, courtesy of an Eagles blitz off the edge, but did not get any pressure on Romo otherwise.
Brodrick Bunkley - Most of the Cowboys' successful runs were aimed away from Bunkley and Trent Cole. He batted down a Romo pass attempt on the Cowboys' first possession and made a nice play to stuff Barber on a delayed handoff on 2nd-and-goal in the first.
Trent Cole - He's been completely neutralized as a pass rusher in two meetings against the Cowboys this season. Sean McDermott tried a couple different things to get Cole going. On one play in the first, he switched places with a linebacker before the snap and rushed up the middle. The Cowboys did some smart things too, like rolling Romo out to his right early on. Against the run, he made some nice plays. But on the Jones 49-yard touchdown, it looked like Cole took one step in the wrong direction, which allowed Jones to beat him outside.
Chris Clemons - Like Cole, he switched places with a linebacker on that same play and rushed up the middle. Clemons was on the field for less than 10 snaps and did not have success as a pass rusher. He did get a little shove on Romo in the fourth quarter, and was fortunate to not be flagged for it.
Victor Abiamiri - He was a regular part of the D-line rotation, usually coming in to play inside on passing downs. Don't remember him getting any pressure up the middle. Abiamiri dropped back into coverage in the first quarter on one play.
Darren Howard - I could take the above write-up on Abiamiri and basically just paste it here. The only difference was Howard saw an extra series playing outside at right defensive end to give Cole a breather.
Jason Babin - He also played quite a bit, but did not have an impact. Babin was blocked on the 18-yard Barber run in the first quarter that went to the right side. By the way, Barber had not had a carry of more than 12 yards in his previous four games. He had runs of 32 and 18 yards on the Cowboys' first possession against the Eagles.
Will Witherspoon - Ups and downs for Witherspoon. The downs mostly came against the run. Cowboys backup tight end Jason Phillips made a key block on Witherspoon on Barber's 32-yard run. He really struggled early, failing to get off his block on an 11-yard Jones run in the first and overrunning the play on an 8-yard Jones carry. Witherspoon was completely fooled on the 49-yard Jones touchdown run, biting on Romo's initial fake. He made some nice plays in coverage, one against Barber in the flat in the first quarter, and another against Miles Austin on a WR screen at the end of the first half.
Moise Fokou - Missed tackles and a personal foul penalty for Fokou. And I still think he's probably their best option to man the strong side LB spot. Fokou was blocked on the 18-yard Barber run in the first and missed a tackle on a 6-yard Jones carry. The big one was his missed tackle on the 49-yard Jones run in the second half. Fokou was one of only two or three guys who had a chance. The penalty was a 15-yarder for getting his hands on Romo's helmet. The positives were a blitz in the fourth, which led to Patterson's sack, and a nice play against the run late.
Akeem Jordan - He started the game at middle linebacker, but was ineffective, particularly against the run. Jordan played 28 of 38 snaps in the first half, but was on the field for just one play (out of 29) in the second half. A step back after he played really well a week ago against Denver. And one that probably should have been expected, considering he's been moved from weak side to the middle.
Jeremiah Trotter - He was on the field for six snaps in the first half. But in the second half, he was McDermott's guy in the middle, playing 23 snaps. And not only in the base defense. Trotter stayed on the field with Witherspoon even when Joselio Hanson came in as the nickel back and the Eagles went with two linebackers. He really made a big difference in the D's effort against the run and was active throughout. There were some bad plays, like the 49-yard Jones run where he was fooled by the initial fake. And Trotter was matched up in coverage a couple times against Witten, getting beat for gains of 25 and 10 yards. More on this tomorrow, but I've got to think he's going to see more action early on Saturday night.
Tracy White - He was on the field for nine snaps. White put a big hit on Barber to force an incompletion on a screen pass in the third quarter.
Asante Samuel - He helped cause the Joselio Hanson interception but gambled and lost on multiple other occasions. Samuel tried to cut in front of Witten in the first quarter on the TD and was burned by Austin for 40 yards on a 2nd-and-17 later in the game. Austin beat him for 12 yards on a third down in the first quarter also.
Sheldon Brown - Brown was called for pass interference on third down during the Cowboys’ first scoring drive, allowing Dallas' offense to stay on the field. He was part of the miscommunication on the 14-yard touchdown to Patrick Crayton in the second.
Joselio Hanson - He came up with the big interception on 3rd-and-goal in the first quarter. Like I said, we'll break down all the blitzes in tomorrow's post, but it should be noted that the Eagles did not bring Hanson from the slot at all in this one. McDermott had done that quite a bit previously. Hanson was beat on a 32-yard completion to Crayton in the fourth.
Dimitri Patterson - Only on the field for two snaps, and it wasn't in his traditional role as the sixth DB. Instead, Patterson came in to spell Samuel for a couple plays in the second quarter. This is the second week in a row that's happened, I believe. Not sure if Samuel was banged-up or if there was a specific package that called for Patterson to replace him.
Quintin Mikell - More downs than ups for Mikell. He had a chance to bring Barber down after about a 7-yard gain, but missed, on the play where he went for 32. He also was one of two or three players who had a chance at Jones on the 49-yard run and missed a tackle. Mikell did not do a good job on the 18-yard Barber run, either. In coverage, he was beat by Witten on a 16-yard gain on 2nd-and-7 in the third quarter.
Macho Harris - He played most of the snaps at free safety, but did not make many plays. It looked like Harris slipped on the 30-yard throw to Crayton in the second.
Sean Jones - He was only on the field for seven snaps, by my count. Jones is clearly a better option at free safety in terms of run support, but his missed tackles have been problematic. It'll be interesting to see if McDermott gets him in there more on Saturday, especially early.
Comments (31)
i have no confidence in any of these players other than cole, but the boys have been able to shut him down. the offense has to put up some numbers if we r gonna take this game— GetMeToThePlateBoys- I would let Romo beat us than Cows run game. Run game will kill the clock and we will end up with 3 drives in a half... unbelievable! If Romo can actually pass and get his team down the field to score, at least our offense will have time to play ball.— Seed
- Questions: There have been injuries, but why is McDernmott still tinkering with the LB's as if it's the preseason? Why isn't Jordan on the weak side where he's arguably been our best LB when healthy)and Spoon in the middle, with Trotter getting situational snaps? Why not more Tracy White, and a little less Fokiu? I'm not a Gocong fan, but can he be used in a Babin-like role? Asante? A typical game. Look, why is it always called a mixup when Sheldon stops running with a receiver at the 5 yard line, looks back at the qb, and leaves the receiver totally unattended in the end zone? It can't be the safety's fault every da_n time. I know Sheldon plays hurt, and comes up and makes hits, but he is not even an average cover corner right now.— MG44
- It's simple the games are won and lost in the trenches...Eagles lines were out played by the cowgirls. That being said let's hope everyone steps up there game and makes a game of it on Saturday night! Besides Cole their D-Line has been pretty poor most of the year they are really a mediocre d line...we need everyone to so some of the same passion as Trotter!!! We have to come out an play like it's the last game because it we don't it will be!!!— tholler1
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Why didn't the Eagles try to jam TE Witten at the line of scrimmage? Not only didn't the Eagles do this, they didn't even attempt to cover him man-to-man, relying on a porous zone coverage. We have to get much more physical to win the game on Saturday.— tbird
- Comment removed.
- When Kolb is the quarterback of this team I am wondering what these idiots will have to complain about? Defense gets run over. McNabb's fault. Run game doesn't work? 5 threw up in the Super Bowl. War still going in Iraq? It would be over if we traded mcNabb— mcat13
- Draft still in April? This isn't a superbowl team. We either lose in Dallas this week or on the road the following week. This defense can't handle the Saints or Vikes. FS/MLB/OLB in draft. Please.— dragoon6
- Comment removed.
- Kolb will not be in, as much as I bash Mcnabb he is still a pretty good QB. He has his flaws, but he also makes some good plays. You take the good with the bad. His career numbers speak for themselves. And we will miss him when he is gone. The calls for Kolb are a knee jerk reaction to a team that I feel is a little overrated. How many good teams did we beat this year? Kolb would have been buried under the rush the cowboys had on sunday.— kramer65
they knew there would be lots of handoffs up 17-0 in the 2nd half, thus the Axman.— potus- Alright Sheil! What's going on with Gocong??? How many penalties has Fokou had this year and he can't cover tight ends either. Really... adding in the penalities is he an upgrade? Is he hurt?— vegasflyer
- Sean Jones is mediocre at best and Victor Harris is worse. The LBs are mediocre. Other than Cole, Bunkley, Patterson and Brown, this defense just isn't good enough. This defense can't stop a decent offense - hasn't done it all season. I think it's about personnel rather than McDermott's schemes. The players aren't talented enough.— p-diddy
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Sheil Kapadia is in his fifth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest
memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with
his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to
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