Questions For The Morning After

As the contact high from that compelling early season game begins to wear off, it's time to start sorting through the rubble of the loss to determine what we can blow off and what we should start worrying about.

Items for the first category:  quarterbacks botching handoffs, receivers flipping balls before they cross the goal line, PI penalties against cornerbacks in great coverage until the QB fires the ball well behind the receiver.

Items for the second category, somewhat more numerous:

The Eagles have five safeties on this roster, can we find two who can play? 

I don't want to bury Dawk based on a couple of plays, but the signs of his decline have been there now for awhile.  I went the "glass half full" route back in June (his 2006 season was pretty darn good), but another way to read those stats is to say he fell off a cliff in 2007.

Quintin Mikell might just be the best all-around safety on the roster at the moment, but what does it say that he's the guy who comes up to play "linebacker" when the Eagles go dime, with Considine and Dawkins staying back at safety?

Speaking of Considine, why is he on the field?  I've defended the guy in the past from what I think are unfair attacks based on a couple of missed tackles, but if you're in the game to provide help over the top on Terrell Owens then you cannot allow #81 to get behind you. 

I love J.R. Reed -- and all he seems to do is make plays -- but he must be doing something wrong in practice to continue to be behind Considine. 

And finally, Quintin Demps.  He spent time at both CB and safety this summer.  I doubt he's learned the whole defense.  He would probably give up some big plays until he does.  But given that he almost ran down Felix Jones on that kick return, I'd sure be tempted to start getting him some time. 

Is this among the worst defensive games Jim Johnson has ever called? 

It's always hard to tell in these situations how to parcel out blame.  The Cowboys' offense is really good.  The Eagles' secondary was blowing coverages left and right.  Even one or two plays could have made things look a lot different.

On first viewing, though, it sure looked like JJ lost his nerve in the second half.  The gameplan early seemed to be:  1) Stop Barber, 2) Cover in the back.  The first part worked out well, but not so much on the second.  So when it became clear the front four wasn't going to be able to pressure Romo -- particularly after they spent a lot of time on the field in the second half -- why didn't Johnson release the hounds?  I'm not saying it would definitely have worked, but sitting back and giving Romo time wasn't working either. 

Also, why did it take 30 minutes to get someone other than Sheldon Brown on Owens?  I'm not bagging on Sheldon -- TO is a tough cover for anyone -- but the Eagles have two guys on this roster who are better options there.  Did we need to go a whole half before we figured that out?  And why on Earth was Dawkins matched up one-on-one with Owens down by the goal line?

Lot of questionable defensive calls this game. 

Will one bad game mean that the braying pack will be out saying the "league has caught up to Jim Johnson!!!" again? 

Yes, yes it will.  Sigh. 

Would it have mattered if the Eagles had drafted Felix Jones this year the way I wanted them to? 

Yes and no.  On the one hand, maybe it saves us seven points last night.  On the other, can you imagine if the Cowboys had instead gone to a Plan B named "DeSean Jackson"?

Shudder.

The problem with the Eagles' special teams isn't the return men.  They're fine.  Maybe not quite as good as Jones, but more than adequate.  The problem is either the other 10 guys on the field or the one guy standing on the sidelines.  Still can't tell which.  Not sure how to tell, in fact.

Is this all there is from Brodrick Bunkley?

First of all, sorry for the embarrassing RDT/LDT screw-up yesterday.  It happens.

As for Bunk, this is the guy's third year in the league.  He's an absolute physical freak.  Big, quick and strong.  So why does his whole game seem to revolve around standing still?  As in, you won't be able to move me because I'm a total beast, but on the other hand I won't get around you either, so maybe we should just both agree to sit this play out.

I'll have to go back and look at the film to see what he was facing in terms of double teams, but right now, given where he was drafted and the obvious tools he seems to have, I'm a little perturbed by the lack of disruptive plays.

Did Sav do that on purpose?

And by "that" I mean those two weird, line drive, bouncing kicks that both ended up working out pretty well but sure looked ugly.  Especially because he sandwiched them around a 61-yard bomb that looked like it might briefly have passed through the hole in the top of the stadium. 

I hope we can take time out from the ritual press flaying of Segrest this week ("so, again, why do your special teams suck so much?") to ask one question re: what the heck Rocca is doing. 

Has the Eagles' offense minus Curtis and Brown been "figured out"?

Again, I'll have to look at this in the rewind to be sure, but it seemed on first viewing like the Cowboys really backed off the blitzing in the second half, preferring instead to play coverages and daring the Eagles' group of backup receivers to beat them straight up.  Is that the new gameplan?  Don't blitz McNabb because he's got his mobility back and will burn you, but instead sit back and bank on your secondary being able to contain a receiving corps missing its two starters.

I don't know, we'll see.  But one thing we can say for sure is that the new "throw it into tight spaces, don't hold the ball" McNabb didn't seem to catch the charter to Dallas. 

- - - - - -

That's all the time we have today, but I'm sure there are other questions.  Feel free to add yours to the comments. 

Comments

[MetroG]

Fine analysis. Many of the questions you're asking, I was also wondering about. Jim Johnson's lack of blitz packages was just, umm, odd. Especially because Jaws, Tirico and everyone else kept saying how great JJ is at blitzing. Yet he barely even called any blitzes. And the few times he did, the results were often favorable.

Furthermore the concern for our corps of safties is most unsettling. Mikell was decent, but even he missed a few key tackles
on Barber and Witten in the second half. They need to retool things back there or we are going to make every half decent TE in the league look like HOFers.

[Eric (a different one)]

Perhaps the reason that JJ held back was because he didn't want to show his cards to the 'boys this early in the season. He really keyed in on stopping Barber in the first half, almost like he didn't care if TO beat us downfield. Maybe he was just experimenting with different coverage situations to test the waters and see what Asante brings, as well as what we really need to do to stop the run. We don't get to see what the downfield coverage looks like on TV broadcasts but I really think Jim is just testing the waters for the next time we face this ridiculous offense. I think we will see the JJ we know and love when we see the cowboys in the postseason (assuming both teams are in by week 17).

[BrianS]

While I'd like to believe JJ has some more tricks for the postseason, this wasn't a preseason game, a throwaway game with backups at the end of a season, or even a non-conference game. The season isn't over after 2 games, but divisional games are important.

Pull out all the stops and win the game you're playing, and worry about the playoffs in they playoffs.

I don't quite understand -- JJ seemed to go into the first Dallas game in '07, where they destroyed us at the LInc, with an equally conservative blitz strategy.

[Eric]

Peter King actually applauded Andy Reid for drafting linemen well on ESPN radio. He specifically mentioned Bunkley because the Eagles were able to hold back Barber.

[elizabeth]

The thing is, the way to beat the Cowboys is to get in Tony's face, which means you get in Tony's head. And given the fact that he folded like a cheap tent in a windstorm the few times we did get there, I was very surprised that wasn't more of a focus. Pressure Tony --> Tony makes mistakes (big ones) --> Turnovers and defensive scores. It's a simple equation.

[Tracer Bullet]

I keep trying to tell myself that this was a case of the home team holding serve and there were a lot of positives and that the Cowboys really didn't prove themselves the better team. However, McNabb, the safeties, Johnson's dogged refusal to blitz and, once again, the terrible kick coverage all scare the hell out of me. At least McNabb was on fire for 56 minutes. I can't begin to explain that other stuff. They let a division game get away and I'm terrified this will cost them in the end.

[johnnyshaka]

Two games in and we've faced likely one of the worst teams in the league and one of the best...and we hung 30+ points on both of them. The offense is just fine. McNabb and company, whoever "company" happens to be, are as good as any offense out there.

I think we all know the defense was the question mark going into this season. We added some pieces and Samuel did what he was brought here to do...create turnovers and shut down top receivers...check, and check once JJ put him on their top receiver. No pressure on Romo is puzzling but at the same time, the Cowboys have one of the best lines in the league...without blitzing, nobody is going to get close to Romo. There is definitely room for improvement but I think it has more to do with JJ than it does with the players.

Why isn't Brown playing some safety with Lito and Samuel on the outside...especially against a guy like Witten? You have 3 very good/great corners...USE THEM!!! Also, Considine obviously shouldn't be in the Eagle's future plans so give Demps sometime there...he can't be any worse.

[BrianS]

I have no complaints with the level of effort last night. The Eagles responded (and got some lucky breaks) to things going very badly early in the game, and hung in there.

I'm just looking at the 7 points Romo gift-wrapped for the Eagles and PI call that should have been offensive against G-Lew, and wondering if the talent levels were as close as the score indicated. Dallas just looked better on offense, defense, and clearly special teams to me.

It's true that the Superbowl isn't won in week 2. If our key guys stay healthy I think the Eagles have a lot of younger starters and key backups who will get better as the season progresses; so they might be able to close the talent gap by week 17.

But what really bothers me about this one is that while I do think Dallas proved themselves the better team, "we let 'em off the hook" in an important game.

Lack of success early on in the red zone and lack of any success at all on defense is what cost the Eagles the game, but save for a dumb, unforced error in the 4th quarter, they probably sneak out of there with a victory.

[Andrew2]

Was there a new red-zone formation floated out their last night? Several times the Eagles went with four standing receivers who were packed in tight to the offensive line formation. Gave them a lot of options for run blocking or pass blocking, and it's not something I remember seeing before.

[Derek]

There was a new redzone formation that put two fullbacks on the field, but that double twins bunch formation came out last year.

I actually don't like it that much. It seems intended to lengthen the route the outside pass rushers have to take to the QB, but if you watch Runyan and Thomas, it's very difficult for them to get off the line quickly enough to get out and block those guys.

[Paul]

Is it me or doesn't this always seem to happen? I mean like ALWAYS!!! Whenever the Eagles have a huge win against a good opponent (or almost pull off a huge upset against an undefeated Patriots team) it's because JJ used his mad scientist type ingenuity and made up some amazing blitz packages that thoroughlt confused the other teams (usually great) quarterback. Off the top of my head I can remember using this against Aikman, Culpepper (when he was good and had Moss), Brady, and Romo (last year). At the very least, it seems each huge win had a blitz heavy type of gameplan from JJ. But whenever we lose, the first thing every Eagles fan notices is the obvious lack of consistent blitzing.

Part of me thinks Eric's comment above is right. Does Reid and JJ foresee a playoff game between us and the Boys as almost unavoidable and therefore, would rather take their chances on losing than giving up their gameplan during the season?

Besides the blitzing, there is no excuse for Considine being on the field at all, Sheldon covering TO at all, Dawkins on TO one on one, or Dawkins covering Witten at all. Those are either just stupid cockiness or not being organized for a big game...both are pathetic.

[Eric]

Wait, who is posting as me? I'll have to start using a different "name"!

[MSE69]

How do you come to the conclusion that they were saving something for a future playoff game? Seriously, stop it.

[Derek]

Fixed.

New Eric should feel free to adopt a pithier modifier.

[Michael]

Here's my take on why JJ didn't call more blitzes. I think he saw three things early: 1) The Cowboys started with a lot of quick, 3 and 5 step drops to discourage the blitz. Blitzing on those with Witten and Barber would not have worked well. Jason Garrett then got away from that (see deep ball to TO), which was very clever.
2) The front four were getting pressure if not sacks early. There were a few plays where Romo had to escape or move around a lot in the pocket. I remember being impressed early in the game by how Trent Cole was disrupting the pocket, like on the interception where first Cole and then Howard whiffed on Romo's jersey. My guess is that JJ thought it was a matter of time until the front four started getting home. This, sadly, turned out to be wrong, and they wore down towards the end of the game because it was unbelievably intense in there and Laws had gone out with a thigh contusion. But JJ thought that if he could get pressure then he'd keep back the hounds because...
3) Witten and TO were getting very open and scaring the shit out of him. Also, he was having success stopping the run, and didn't want to give Barber a chance to start getting past blitzing 'backers and gashing us for 20 yards.

My guess (having not yet watched the tape) is that JJ simply lost the chess match with Jason Garrett. Garrett managed to convince him to go away from his best move (blitzing) with quick drops early and then cleverly mixing in the deep ball. Also, Garrett had great protection schemes. Gotta chalk one up for Jason Garrett. I hope we learn from this and start making some of the changes you guys have been suggesting (with safeties, e.g.)

[Eagles Fan in San Fran]

I just read a Cowboy report that says Witten separated his shoulder late in the first half, went in and got some painkiller shots and came back out just in time to catch that pass that set up the FG at the end of the half.
In the meantime: LJ-Perfectly healthy, one catch for 10 yards.
As Charlie Brown would say: AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[Pat]

I think the answer to the "why was X lined up against Owens/Witten/Barber" was that Dallas did a great job of moving people around and using odd formations.

I really think it was just JJ being outcoached. That's not a serious criticism. It happens. Especially with teams with strong offenses. For the most part, the Eagles did the same thing to the Cowboys, as well. In the end, they just tried to be cutesy (with that fake end around) a bit too much.

[Eagle Scout]

Derek,

Do me a favor (like you always do) and focus on Bunkley in your rewind. From my eye, he played a hell of a game. He was taking on multiple blockers on most plays. He had more tackles than any defensive lineman. I actually remarked to my buddies how incredible I thought he was playing so I was surprised we you singled him as someone who wasn't pulling his weight.

To me he's an occupier, not a penetrator - if that makes sense. Get back to me.

[Coatesvillain]

How viable is it for the Eagles to activate Joe Mays for use on special teams? I'm not saying he'd solve anything on the coverage teams but I think he'd help.

The Eagles could make Considine inactive to make this move (as they already have four safeties on the active roster). What would we lose? Maybe JJ would finally put that three safety dime defense to bed.

[GFF]

Amen, Coatesvillain. Mays can get to the ball carrier and hit. Keep Considine under glass, for emergency use only, as in the week after three safeties go down with injury. He's one dumb penalty from being this year's Matt McCoy.