Page, Eagles pile up 13 missed tackles

We hear Andy Reid and Juan Castillo say on a weekly basis that they need to put the players in better positions to succeed.

There are plenty of examples this year where they have not done that.

But there are also instances when the players are in positions to make plays and fail to do so.

I went back and looked at the defensive performance against the Bills. What I saw was 13 missed tackles and what has to be one of the worst groups of tackling defensive backs in the league.

I'm pretty sure most of these players were taught how to tackle well before they got to the NFL. And I know for a fact that Castillo has worked with them on the fundamentals of tackling. But they have issues on a weekly basis. And keep in mind, these are only missed tackles I'm talking about, not plays where guys avoid contact or are blocked.

Here's the breakdown of how many tackles each guy missed, along with descriptions of what happened on each specific play:

You'll notice that 11 of the 13 missed tackles were by Eagles defensive backs, with Page leading the way.

Here are the examples:

1. Page missed on Fred Jackson's 7-yard run on the Bills' first offensive play from scrimmage. I guess you could say he set the tone for the afternoon.

2, 3 and 4. I'd imagine this is hard to do, but the Eagles missed three tackles on one play. On Ryan Fitzpatrick's 19-yard completion to Donald Jones, Samuel missed a tackle at the 19 yard-line, and Asomugha followed it up with a missed tackle at the 11. I didn't catch this the first time around, but Hanson must have not wanted to be left out because he also missed at the 8. Page finally brought Jones down at the 5. And just like that, a 4-yard completion turned into a 19-yard gain.

5. Chaney failed to bring Jackson down on the 5-yard touchdown run.

6. Patterson made a good play to get in the backfield, but couldn't wrap Jackson up. Brian Rolle wasn't far behind and dropped him for a 4-yard loss.

7. Rodgers-Cromartie dove at Jackson's feet on a screen pass, but whiffed. Rolle and Allen were nearby to drop him after a 3-yard gain.

8. Not only did Rodgers-Cromartie give up a completion to Stevie Johnson on third down near the end of the first half, but he followed it up with a missed tackle. Allen was behind him to clean up, but not until Johnson picked up a first down.

9. Page read the play well, jumped into the backfield and then totally whiffed on a tackle as Jackson scampered for a 6-yard gain.

10 and 11. Allen got in the backfield, but couldn't bring down C.J. Spiller, who bounced the run outside, just in time for Asomugha to miss a tackle. The Eagles had two chances to bring him down for a loss. Instead, he picked up 8, got the Bills in the red zone, and they scored a touchdown three plays later.

12. In the fourth, Page had a chance to bring down Naaman Roosevelt after a 7-yard gain, but missed, and the Bills picked up 20 yards on the play.

13. On the very next play, Page had a chance to bring Jackson down at the line of scrimmage, but didn't wrap him up, and it turned into an 11-yard gain.

If you missed my instant observations after the game, click here.

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