Vulnerable to Weakness

Here is an interesting column by Oregon fan and Chip Kelly expert Mark Saltveit on a problem the Eagles had down the stretch.

The Eagles have a weird paradox — they do well against direct challenges and opponents’ strengths, but show surprising weakness toward their opponents’ soft spots and injury-riddled positions.  New Orleans beat Philadelphia with an unheralded running attack, depleted by an injury to top RB Pierre Thomas.

Philadelphia’s previous loss was to Minnesota — after their two best runners went out with injuries and QB Matt Cassell beat the Birds with his rarely-lauded arm.  The Eagles hung on to beat Dallas in the year’s final game, but backup quarterback Kyle Orton and Dallas’ woeful defense pushed them to the limit.

I’m dwelling on this a bit because it’s a fascinating paradox that may illustrate the limits and potential of this team.  DC Billy Davis has overachieved by anyone’s standards, especially working against the pass with a much-maligned secondary.

My best explanation for this vulnerability to weakness is that Davis has done a great job of scheming against opponents — too great a job.  He figured out how to manipulate all of the limited resources at his disposal and stop the league’s top passing combos — but in doing so, he left himself open to counterattacks that have been very effective.

The lack of overall talent on the defense caught up to the Eagles as teams would adjust to what the Eagles did. Gameplans only get you so far. At a certain point, you must win the battles and out-execute them. That didn’t happen in some key games.

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One Response to Vulnerable to Weakness

  1. SteveH says:

    This is a fascinating aspect of the 2013 Eagles and I find that explanation plausible. You have to wonder if Sean Payton decided to attack the Eagles with the run because he saw it was working during the game, or if that was the plan all along because he knew we wouldn’t have prepped for it.

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