Making wide-9 more effective with 8 linemen

When Jim Washburn was an assistant at the University of Arkansas in the mid-'90s, he became friends with the Razorbacks' basketball coach, Nolan Richardson, who would occasionally invite him over to watch his team practice.

"His motto for his team was '40 minutes of hell,' " Washburn said. "He had 10 guys that he played and he just kept rolling them in and out, five at a time. The fact that you could keep players fresh and keep attacking, I thought that was huge."

Ever since his days as a high school coach, Washburn had been a big believer in giving everybody an opportunity to play. But after watching Richardson's team, the benefit of rotating players and keeping them fresh really hit home.

"You can go hard for four plays, then you're out," the Eagles defensive line coach said. "That accomplishes several things. For one, it keeps your people fresh. Over the course of the year, it cuts [a player's snaps] down significantly. Jason Babin made the Pro Bowl last year in Tennessee with 12 1/2 sacks and playing just 59 percent of the snaps. Sometimes less is more.

"Secondly, it keeps everybody involved in the meetings. Sometimes it's hard to keep guys' attention. But when everybody knows they're going to play, when everybody feels they're a part of the group, it's a lot easier."

The Eagles have dramatically dialed down the blitz this season, relying mainly on Washburn's unit to provide pass-rush pressure. In last week's win over the Giants, the Eagles blitzed just once - on Eli Manning's 47-yard completion to Victor Cruz right before Jason Babin's game-saving sack and forced fumble.

With Washburn regularly rotating eight players up front, the Eagles' pass rush has been one of the best in the league this season. They are tied for sixth in the league in sacks with 29 and second in sacks-per-pass play.

But the second half of the season will be the real test of Washburn's less-snaps-is-more approach.

Even before Washburn brought the "wide-nine" here, the Eagles have favored fast, undersized, high-motor defensive linemen. The problem with that type of player is that he tends to wear down as the season goes along if you don't limit his snaps.

Last year, the Eagles had 39 sacks. Collected 24 in the first eight games, which actually was two more than they had in their first eight games this year. But fatigue caught up with them. They had just 15 sacks in the last eight games. The year before, same thing. Had 27 sacks in the first eight games and just 17 in the last eight.

This isn't an aberration. In each of the last seven seasons, the Eagles' sack total has dropped off dramatically in the second half of the season. From 2004 through 2010, they registered 172 sacks in their first eight games and just 112 in their last eight.

Check out Trent Cole's numbers. In the last five seasons, the two-time Pro Bowler has registered 52 sacks. Thirty-three of them have come in Games 1-8 and just 19 in Games 9-16. Last year, seven of his 10 sacks came in the first half of the season.

So far, Washburn's rotation system is working great. The Eagles have registered seven sacks the last two games and his linemen have never felt this good this deep into the season.

"I feel a lot better than I did last year at this point," Cole said. "Instead of playing 70-80 snaps a game, I'm playing 40-50 snaps."

Said defensive tackle Derek Landri: "Last year in Carolina, we weren't playing real well and the defense was on the field 70-80 snaps a game. And I was probably playing about 60 of them. Week after week, that does wear on you."

Said defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins: "I feel pretty good right now. Part of it is the snaps and part of it is the scheme. Being able to attack a little more instead of sitting back and absorbing a lot of hits and a lot of punishment."

Injuries obviously can short-circuit Washburn's rotation plan. But so far, his line has managed to stay relatively healthy. Defensive tackle Antonio Dixon suffered a season-ending arm injury in Week 4, but they re-signed Landri, who was released in the preseason, and he has stepped in and played very well.

Cole missed a couple of games with a calf strain and end Juqua Parker was sidelined for three games with an ankle injury. But Washburn managed to work through that.

"This thing goes awry sooner or later," he said. "At Tennessee, we were 5-3 last year. Then all of a sudden we were decimated [by injuries] and the two-platoon went out the window and you do what you have to do to survive. But in a perfect world, you'd love to have eight guys up and play 'em all."

WASH ON THE WIDE-NINE

Washburn's wide-nine front has gotten a lot of attention this season, particularly early on when it was being blamed for the Eagles' inability to stop the run.

"The popular thing to say is the Eagles aren't worth a bleep because they're playing the wide-nine," he said. "If we're not worth a bleep, we're not worth a bleep. But it has very little to do with [the wide-nine]. You're just taking one person and moving him 3 feet over. You're giving him a better rush angle and you can hit the run a little better. Over the years that I've been using it, we've had success against the run as well as the pass."

Early in the season, critics of the wide-nine said the Eagles didn't have the right linebackers to play the wide-nine. Said they were too small to control the bigger gaps created by the wide-nine. But the Eagles have held opponents to 81.6 rushing yards per game and 3.9 yards per carry over the last five games, and they are using the wide-nine nearly as much as they were in the first five games when they were gashed for 140.2 yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry. Could be that the linebackers are just playing a lot better, particularly with the insertion of rookie Brian Rolle and veteran Akeem Jordan.

"It looks like our linebackers have done a little better lately, doesn't it?" said Washburn. "[The wide-nine] is a little bit different to play behind, but there's only one place that makes it a little more difficult. I think our guys have done a good job of adjusting to it. It takes a little time. Our [linebackers] are young, period."

FIGURING THE EAGLES

* When LeSean McCoy buys season-ending gifts for his blockers, he's going to have to include tight ends Brent Celek and Clay Harbor on that list. Through 10 games, 51.7 percent of McCoy's league-best rushing yards (527 of 1,019) and eight of his 10 touchdown runs have come out of two-tight end sets. He's averaging 6.0 yards per carry out of two-tight end formations - 6.3 out of one-back, two tight-end sets. Of McCoy's 113 rushing yards against the Giants last week, including his game-clinching 60-yarder with a minute left, 105 came out of a two-tight end set. Celek had one of the two key blocks (right tackle Todd Herremans had the other) that opened the running lane for McCoy on his long run. McCoy has rushed for 348 yards in the last four games; 274 of that, and three of his four rushing TDs, came out of two-tight end sets.

* McCoy's rushing yards are pretty evenly split this season. He's got 229 yards in the first quarter, 211 in the second, 290 in the third and 289 in the fourth. He's averaging 7.2 yards per carry in the fourth quarter.

* Through 10 games, McCoy has accounted for 29.3 percent of the Eagles' offensive yards, up from 26.8 percent last year. How McCoy has amassed those yards obviously has changed as he has taken on a bigger role as a runner and a lesser role as a receiver. Last year, his 1,080 rushing yards accounted for 17.3 percent of the team's offensive production and his 592 receiving yards 9.5 percent. This year, his rushing total (1,019) is up to 24.5 percent and his receiving total (198) is down to 4.8 of the offensive yards.

* The Eagles have scored on their first possession just once this season and have scored only four times on either their first or second possession. They've turned the ball over six times on their first two possessions.

MCCOY'S SIGNATURE PLAY

* Every great running back has a signature play. One that he's known for. One that he's used to gain a significant chunk of his rushing yards. For LeSean McCoy, his signature play has become the sprint draw.

"We want to get him out in space, because he's real exciting when there's green grass. That's our goal and the sprint draw is one of the ways to do it," said offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who persuaded coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg to add the play to their run-game package after he was coaxed out of retirement by Reid last January.

McCoy has become a more disciplined runner this season. While he still likes to do his Barry Sanders ad-lib act, he usually resorts to it only after the initial point of attack has been shut off.

"On a lot of the runs, we're both learning," said Mudd. "He's got some disciplines that he's really sticking to for the most part. Which is go chase the point of attack before you start bolting and running somewhere else. Sometimes you can get away with those things. But there's other times when you would bolt under the same circumstances and it turns out to be a disaster.

"If you're going to lose yards, lose them where we're all putting our heads. And then that guy [blocker] will get his ass chewed out if he didn't do it right."

2-MINUTE DRILL

FROM THE LIP:

* "The truth of the matter is, that team is a good team, and I respect the Eagles. But do they compare to us? Maybe. Are they better than us? Not at all. And that's the thing that really gets under my skin. There's no way we should've lost that game." - Giants safety Antrel Rolle on last week's 17-10 loss to the Eagles

* "I wish he'd just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates. I think that when he

accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I'll like him a little

better. I don't hate him because of that. I just would rather not have to hear that every time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff." - Former Broncos QB Jake Plummer on current Broncos QB Tim Tebow

FROM THE LIP  . . . OLDIE BUT GOODIE

* "Have I got the score right? Then what the hell are they trying to do?" - Patriots coach Bill Belichick to his assistants in the booth in the waning minutes of Super Bowl XXIX as he watched Andy Reid's Eagles, who were trailing by 10 points at the time, stroll down the field on a clock-gobbling 13-play drive

BY THE NUMBERS

* Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season (5,084) has stood for 26 years. But it almost certainly will fall this year. Two quarterbacks - the Saints' Drew Brees and the Patriots' Tom Brady - are on pace to shatter Marino's 1984 mark. A third, the Packers' Aaron Rodgers, also has a good shot. Brees (3,326 yards), who almost broke it 3 years ago when he threw for 5,069 yards, is on pace to throw for 5,322. Brady (3,266) is on pace for 5,226. Rodgers (3,475 in 11 games) is on pace for 5,054.

* The Lions are the first team in league history to win three games in the same season in which it trailed by at least 17 points.

* The Giants have recorded at least one takeaway in 23 straight regular-season games. That's the longest active streak in the league.

* The Patriots' Brady has thrown for 25 TD passes for the seventh time in his career. That ties him with Marino for the third most in league history. Peyton Manning is at the top of the list with 13. Brett Favre is second with 11.

* The Pats' Rob Gronkowski notched his 20th career TD catch last week in only his 26th career game. That's the quickest a tight end ever has collected his 20th TD. The previous best was Mike Ditka, who did it in 31 games.

* The Jets haven't brought the best out in Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. In five games against them, he has a 47.5 completion percentage and a 59.8 passer rating.

* Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber made his 193rd straight start last week. That's the most consecutive starts by a cornerback in NFL history.

THAT'S SAYING THUMBTHING

THUMBS UP: To Lions running back Kevin Smith, who was claimed off the scrap heap earlier this month and rushed for 140 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Lions' 49-35 come-from-behind win over Carolina last week. Smith, a third-round pick of the Lions in '08, finished the last two seasons on injured reserve with knee and thumb injuries and wasn't tendered an offer by the team in the offseason. He spent the first half of this season out of football. The Lions finally brought him back only after their trade with the Eagles for Ronnie Brown was voided when Jerome Harrison was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

"I've always believed in myself and my ability," Smith said. "I've had tough breaks injury-wise. But I believe in myself. When I was getting up and going to train and I'd kiss my son and walk out the door, there really was no motivation [to keep training]."

THUMBS DOWN: To the NFL Players Association for its continued stalling tactics on human growth hormone testing. The union agreed to HGH testing back in August as part of the new collective bargaining agreement, but has effectively held up implementation of the program by repeatedly questioning the test's reliability and safety. The same union that agreed to testing for anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancement drugs more than a decade before Major League Baseball got around to it, has been beaten to the punch by MLB on HGH testing. Baseball will begin random blood-testing for HGH at spring training in February. MLB and its union still have no agreement on in-season or offseason HGH testing, which means only a complete idiot is going to fail the test. But at least it will be testing for it, which is more than the NFL can say right now.

NFL RANKING

1 Packers 11-0 (1 last week)

2 Saints 7-3 (3)

3 Ravens 8-3 (5)

4 Steelers 7-3 (4)

5 49ers 9-2 (2)

6 Patriots 7-3 (6)

7 Bears 7-3 (8)

8 Bengals 6-4 (7)

9 Texans 7-3 (10)

10 Lions 7-4 (9)

11 Raiders 6-4 (12)

12 Cowboys 7-4 (14)

13 Giants 6-4 (11)

14 Jets 5-5 (13)

15 Falcons 6-4 (15)

16 Eagles 4-6 (21)

17 Titans 5-5 (17)

18 Broncos 5-5 (18)

19 Bucs 4-6 (19)

20 Bills 5-5 (16)

21 Dolphins 3-8 (27)

22 Seahawks 4-6 (26)

23 Browns 4-6 (28)

24 Chargers 4-6 (20)

25 Cardinals 3-7 (22)

26 Chiefs 4-6 (23)

27 Jaguars 3-7 (24)

28 Redskins 3-7 (29)

29 Rams 2-8 (25)

30 Vikings 2-8 (30)

31 Panthers 2-8 (31)

32 Colts 0-10 (32)