How Will Johnson Attack?

Last time around, the Eagles didn't so much as sniff Tony Romo in the pocket.  The biggest reason is that the Cowboys' Flozell Adams completely neutralized Trent Cole.  It may not be a career-long issue, but for now Trent does not do well against big, veteran offensive tackles like Adams. 

That's a problem, because while this may be one of those statistics that signifies absolutely nothing, the Eagles do not pressure the quarterback effectively in the games Cole isn't getting his sacks.  Check out the numbers:

The Eagles have 31 sacks on the year, 11.5 of which have come from Cole.  In the seven games in which Cole has gotten at least one sack, the rest of the Eagles have managed 13.5 sacks.  In the six games Cole's been shut out, the other Eagles have a total of six. 

And it's not as if anyone else picks up the slack when the line is getting stuffed.  Non-linemen have four sacks on the year, three of which came in Cole games.  (And the fourth came from Gocong, who rushed from a down position.)

Remember the old days when the Eagles had to blitz all the time because the front four couldn't get pressure?  Seems like a long time ago.

Now, again, this stat may not mean anything.  Maybe Cole gets his numbers against bad pass protecting teams, so everyone else does too.  Who knows?  The one thing we can say for sure is that there's no observable spillover effect, where focusing on stopping Trent opens up opportunities for other players to get to the quarterback.

So if he can't count on a big game from Cole, what will Johnson have planned this time to get to Romo? 

It better be good.