Changes on 'D': Parker, Lindley and Fokou
Sean McDermott made quite a few changes to the Eagles' defense Sunday night against the 49ers. That meant less playing time for Brandon Graham and Ernie Sims.
Changes on 'D': Parker, Lindley and Fokou
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said last week that he would play the best 11 players.
In fact, he's been saying that since he took over the job in the summer of 2009. However, the problem has been that McDermott's never really settled on those 11 - partly because of injuries, and partly because of a lack of effectiveness.
That continued in Week 5 when he decided to start Juqua Parker instead of Brandon Graham at defensive end and Moise Fokou instead of Akeem Jordan at strong-side linebacker. McDermott was also forced to deal with Asante Samuel's absence (concussion), Brodrick Bunkley's departure early in the first quarter and no Trent Cole for a stretch in the second half.
Aside from the personnel changes, McDermott's scheme changed too, as he utilized a dime package with a sixth defensive back more often than he has all season.
Let's start with the defensive line. Here's the breakdown of snaps:
| Player | No. of snaps | Perc. of snaps |
| Trent Cole | 54 | 85.7% |
| Juqua Parker | 44 | 69.8% |
| Trevor Laws | 37 | 58.7% |
| Darryl Tapp | 33 | 52.4% |
| Antonio Dixon | 30 | 47.6% |
| Mike Patterson | 28 | 44.4% |
| Brandon Graham | 24 | 38.1% |
| Brodrick Bunkley | 2 | 3.1% |
Let's start with Parker. He started and played nearly 70 percent of the defensive snaps, by far the most action he's seen all season. His previous high was 44 percent against the Lions. Parker played mostly at left defensive end but saw some time at right defensive end when Cole was sidelined.
And that meant Graham was in the game less than usual. Of the seven defensive linemen that McDermott rotated in, none saw less action than Graham, who played 38.1 percent of the snaps. That is by far a season low. The previous number was 63 percent against the Jaguars. Part of that might have to do with Graham recovering from an ankle injury, but it's something to keep an eye on.
The other player that stands out is Dixon. When Bunkley went down after the first two plays, he got the majority of snaps at defensive tackle, alongside Patterson. Dixon is better than Laws against the run, and it's obvious that McDermott wanted to focus on stopping Frank Gore early.
LINEBACKERS AND DBs
Jordan didn't play a single snap. Fokou played alongside Stewart Bradley and Ernie Sims in the base defense. Bradley and Sims remained on the field in nickel situations.
And the Eagles went with one linebacker (Bradley) quite a bit in their dime package. Here's the breakdown:
| Defense | No. of snaps | Perc. of snaps |
| Base (3 LBs, 4 DBs) | 21 | 33.3% |
| Nickel (2 LBs, 5 DBs) | 27 | 42.9% |
| Dime (1 LB, 6 DBs) | 15 | 23.8% |
By my unofficial count, the Eagles had only used their dime package six times in the first four games. But they used it 15 times here. The personnel (for the most part) in the package was Bradley at linebacker; Ellis Hobbs, Joselio Hanson, Dimitri Patterson and Trevard Lindley at cornerback; and Quintin Mikell and Nate Allen at safety.
Lindley, who was inactive the previous two games, ended up playing 32 percent of the snaps. At the end of the game, he was the nickel corner ahead of Patterson, although I'm not sure if there was an injury involved.
Lindley was on the field in place of Ernie Sims in the dime packages. Sims played 76 percent of the snaps, which was a season-low (not counting the Jaguars game where he suffered an injury). In the other three games, Sims played 100 percent, 96 percent and 96 percent of the snaps, rarely coming off the field.
In the first four games, when the Eagles brought in a sixth defensive back, it was either Patterson or third safety Kurt Coleman.
As for Fokou, he played every snap (33.3 percent) in the base defense.
Later today, I'll post Man Up on the defense with player-by-player notes.
Did anybody else want to break their TV on that 3rd and 21 defensive play call by McDermott?- If this defense doesn't get tough and FAST, McDermott needs to go.
— CoolRunnings - TXEagle, could not agree with you more. I am tired of seeing our defensive ends (Cole, Graham) chasing wrs instead of rushing. That is how Cole pulled his hamstring last night. On that 3rd and 21, Graham was left trying to cover Davis or Crabtree while we rushed 3 guys!— vincemcd
- were are all the take it 2 the bank eagles will lose kooks?????? whin whin whin GO KOLB GO BIRDS!!— first down
- I'm an Eagles fan. I root for the team. I'll admit, Im not enamored with Kolb, but he was solid last night. I think Vick is a better QB, but neither plays D, which is where the Eagles are really suspect. In any event, a win is always good.— mebphila
- I don't remember Jim Johnson having this much indecision with people after preseason is over. McDermott has big shoes to fill and it is tough because we were spoiled by how good Jim Johnson was with making adjustments that paid off. I hate to say it but if the defense keeps them out of the playoffs Andy Reid will have to consider replacing him.— quentin1978
- TXEagles, I felt more like firing McDermott. Smith may make some blunders, but he's a pretty good QB, and with three rushers and good mobility he had a chance to make 21 yards. Did McDermott think there were 30 seconds left in the game? Would LeBeau still consider being a defensive coordinator?— tacklinjoe
- totally agree. I hate when they let the QB hang out forever with a 3rd and long situation and no pass rush. Most pro players can make a play with no pressure coming. Cmon McDermott. Jauron is lookin better and better every week. Isnt that why we brought him in, in case McDermott stinks. well....at least we got a lot of turnovers, hes got that. Maybe this team is young small and fast, and thats the way they operate moreso than coaching.— peteike
- We had the same issues under JJ. Our D stinks when we have teams in 3rd and long. It stops surprising me when teams would convert on 3rd and long (7yds or more) since 2004. And every team has figured out where the blitz is coming from. Yet we never, ever seem to stop this issue. I would like to see us not blitz on 3rd down for a majority of a game and see how the D performs.— kwasi2323
- Same issues under JJ? Third and long was not where you wanted to be during the good years. Graham must be wondering what's going on. He's asked to play zone cover with his back turned on 3rd and 21, asked to line-up at nose tackle in the first couple weeks. McDermott may eventually settle on something that's effective. But right now, all of this tinkering around and personnel changes speak to his inexperience and lack of confidence in what he wants to do. Until there's someone working with confidence on the sidelines, the players will continue to over-think and fail to react. But McD has had his share of injury challenges, and this week it was losing Samuel. I think that explained a lot of Smith's success. Samuel just makes the field smaller against most teams, and allows the safeties to cheat and make plays.— auntesther
I think this game proved what we knew all along......that McNabb sucks! WHO DAT! KOLB DAT!- i have dogged KK and just about everyone else lately, my hat off to him. HE was good yesterday. Collingsworth commented that Bradley looks a step slow. And he was on three plays at least. Dixon was solid and should play more. Tapp brings energy and most importantly experience. Kudos on shutting down Frank Gore. Punt returns good. Same guys on KO returns are shaky and same issue last year.— oldBird
One thing lacking with McD that JJ was good as is playing to the strengths of the individual (See Dawkins in his last year with the Eagles) McD just doesn't seem to know what his players strengths are and is playing with the lineup & play calls to try and find out. Kinda dangerous 5 games into the season, IMO— Mabus
McDermott is in way over his head...and sinking very fast!— NancyNancy- TXEaglesFan-------I literally did throw my beer on that 3 n 21 defense call— fpuglisi3910
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