Eagles defense gets no sacks again

After the Eagles defense finished its third straight game without recording a sack, Trent Cole insisted the line still had pressure on Lions quarterback Matt Stafford.

"It was there. It was there," the defensive end said. "You know it was there."

Whether it was there or not, Stafford picked the Eagles apart in a flurry of a finish after he and wide receiver Calvin Johnson were kept in check for most of the afternoon. And sacks or no sacks, the Birds gift wrapped a 26-23 overtime loss to the Lions on Sunday.

"Sacks are great, but I'm more concerned about the wins," defensive end Darryl Tapp said. "That's what hurt more."

Still, the Eagles failed to record a sack in three straight games for the first time in 29 years. There's more to their lack of quarterback takedowns than just opposing offenses keeping more blockers in and tossing quick passes, although that remained the party line Sunday.

"Both teams did the same thing. We both held people in to protect, but it looked like they got more pressure than what we did," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "So we have to do a better job there."

Both teams are two of the few to employ a wide-nine scheme up front. Only one actually generated significant pressure. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was sacked three times and was hit an additional 11 times. Stafford, aside from not being sacked, was hit only four times.

"I think we did a good job at times rushing him," Eagles defensive end Jason Babin said. "I thought we had a couple of hits on him where guys were coming free."

The Lions helped their front four, however, with a steady dose of blitzing. Last season, when the defensive line accounted for 46 of a league-high 50 sacks, defensive coordinator Juan Castillo didn't need to send many extra pass rushers.

Castillo hasn't blitzed much this season, and he didn't Sunday. The Eagles have seven sacks through six games. They had 18 at this point a year ago. Castillo was asked after the game if he needed to blitz more.

"We have to go and evaluate and see what we have to do," he said.

That was the only answer Castillo had after the game.