JasonB, head honcho over at SB Nation's excellent site for all things Philadelphia Eagle, kindly agreed to answer five (5) of my inane questions in preparation for tonight's game. As opposed to posting them all at once, we're going to spread them out throughout the day. Question No. 1, and Jason's answer thereto, await you after the jump.
1. Imagine that you've just been hired by the Texans. Gary Kubiak asks you to tell him the three (3) areas/players/things he should focus Houston's attack on in Thursday night's game. Assume with me that you're not a double-agent and actually intend to do right by your new employer. How do you answer Kubes' question?
BGN: Stop Michael Vick from taking over the game, don't let the Eagles WRs beat you deep, and throw lots of screens on offense. The name of the game with defending Vick is playing containment. You want to pressure him, but your defensive ends can't let him run right by them. There are going to be times when Vick wants to roll out or take off and run, and often the the best way to defend that is to just hold your ground and contain rather than rush and try to sack him.
The Bears employed an interesting strategy against the Eagles WRs, playing their safeties 25 yards back on almost every play. I don't know that that's the best strategy, considering they gave up a lot of yards (plus 26 points) and really only played well in the red zone. If you aren't confident in your defense's ability to tighten up inside the 20, I'm not sure I'd copy the Bears' strategy.
On offense, the Eagles have been susceptible to the screen all year. Their corners aren't great tacklers, their linebackers are suspect in coverage, and they love to blitz. So there will be opportunities for little dinks and dunks to backs or tight ends that can potentially get big gains.
What do you think, BRB? Sound like something the Texans can and/or will do?
Texans vs Eagles coverage
Bleeding Green Nation