10 Reasons to Believe the Defense Will Be Much Better in 2007

And ... we're back.

If you go by the stats, the Eagles had the second-best offense in the league in 2006, behind only New Orleans.  So if the team is to make a jump from last year's second-round playoff exit to this year's Super Bowl, it's clear most of the improvement is going to have to come from the defense.  That unit ranked only 15th in the league last year, but more importantly went through periods when it simply could not stop power-running games when it really mattered. 

Fortunately, there are a number of reasons for optimism heading into 2007 -- not all of which come directly from the defense -- so let's take a look at a few of them:

1) Improved special teams.  Basically, my thinking here is that they can't be worse than last year.  Even if Dirk Johnson hangs on to his job, the introduction of more explosive returners, some good young talent and simple regression to the mean should all combine to give the defense a few more yards to work with every time it comes on to the field.

2) More rest for the weary.  Only two defenses were on the field for more plays than our guys were last year.  I don't truly believe we're going to see the Eagles morph into the Steelers overnight, with a power running game and a ball-control offense, but even some marginal improvement there would help.  In addition, last year's defensive line got worn down as the season dragged on, once Kearse got hurt and Johnson shortened his DT rotation to include basically three guys.  Assuming some better injury luck and the continued development of Brodrick Bunkley, that shouldn't be the case this year.

3) Actual linebackers.  Takeo Spikes is a significant WIL upgrade.  And as I warned a few weeks ago, I've already gotten way ahead of myself on Chris Gocong.  Without even seeing the guy play, I'm convinced he's going to be far better than Dhani Jones was the last few years.  He'll make some mistakes, but I'm not sure fans are going to believe their eyes when they see linebackers actually out there making plays, rather than just taking up space.  Trotter will either play better or sit. 

4) Injury karma.  The defense is due, right?  Last year they had significant injury issues in the secondary and with Jevon Kearse.  Even if they have the same number of injuries, those have to be less damaging than losing Lito Sheppard and our best pass-rusher, right? 

5) The perceived improved play of Mike Patterson.  I have to admit, I'm getting a little tired of people lumping Patterson in with the rest of the issues from last season.  Clearly he wasn't an All-Pro, but the problem I think we're having is with his style of play.  Patterson is a plugger-type, he's not a disrupter-type.  That means he can anchor his area of the line, but if everyone around him is leaking like a sieve, it's not going to matter.  Upgrade the gap-fillers next to him (Bunkley) and behind him (Spikes / Gocong) and I think we'll see Patterson making a lot more plays.

6) Sheldon Brown has something to prove.  Just like with Patterson, I don't get the people who are ready to just dump all over Brown.  He hasn't looked as good the last couple years, but in 2005 he played through a painful shoulder injury and in 2006 he still didn't look like his old self out there.  Given that Brown has been one of the best run support CBs in the game, I'm inclined to believe he still wasn't completely healthy last year.  With William James right on his tail, he should be inclined to lay it all on the line this offseason to get ready to keep his starting job. 

7) Sean Considine is bigger.  Considine made plenty of plays last season (third on the team in tackles), but he struggled at times with bigger blockers and bigger runners.  Considine has admitted that he wasn't able to keep his weight up last year and finished the season playing under 200 pounds.  He showed up at mini-camp weighing 215.

8) Reid is looking over Johnson's shoulder.  One thing Reid pointed to last season that he liked about not calling plays was that he was able to spend a little more time dealing with the rest of the squad.  Now that Reid finally has the offense running the way he wants it to -- with a veteran quarterback who doesn't need a whole lot of hands-on coaching -- Reid has plenty of time to do a little more self-scouting and apply his thoughts on how he'd attack the Eagles defense to help Johnson strengthen his schemes.

9) Tony Hunt.  Big running back.  Improved third-and-short conversion rate.  Westbrook injury insurance.  All of these things matter. 

10) Finally, Jerome McDougle will be gone.  Let's face it, the guy's a walking bad luck charm.