Time for the Defense to Attack

I never, ever thought I'd say this, but I'm not sure Jim Johnson is blitzing enough these days. 

I don't have numbers to support this contention, but it doesn't seem like guys are coming as much as they used to.  Part of this is clearly because the Eagles haven't had to blitz to get pressure this season.  The Eagles are third in the league in sacks, behind only Chicago and (duh) New York.  Of their 24 sacks, 22 have come from defensive linemen (Mikell and Hanson have the others).  All of which is great.

But as everyone knows by now, the one big issue with the Philly defense this year has been a lack of forced turnovers.  Part of that is certainly all the time Brian Dawkins and Lito Sheppard have spent on the bench, but another big issue is that the Eagles' defense hasn't really been forcing the action so far this year.  They've been good enough to stop people, but not quite good enough to completely take them out of their game.

Against the Cowboys, unless McNabb and the offense have a monster day, I'm not sure that's going to be good enough. 

Which means it's time to cry havoc and let slip the you-know-the-rest.

I understand the counter-argument.  The number one priority today has to be avoiding the big plays running or passing.  You can't get so out of control in your pursuit that you let Romo run around and make big plays after he breaks contain. 

On the other hand, you have to pick your poison.  And the more you can keep Witten in blocking your extra guys and the fewer gaps you give Romo to wriggle through, the better off you're going to be. 

Not to mention, move around enough pre-snap and Flozell Adams and Leonard Davis should be good for about three false starts between them.