The Keys to Sunday's game

First I just wanted to say that I could not have imagined a better week one, aside from donovan getting hurt. Sean McDermott showed that he knows what he is doing and was groomed very well by JJ. One of the things I was thinking about during the game was if they were playing defense like that with Gaither in the middle, how good could they have been with Stew in the middle?  Before the game at carolina I thought Desean was gonna be a stud this year, after the game i think he is gonna be a MONSTER. He is so versatile and can hurt defenses and score points in so many ways.

This sunday is going to be very exciting. Our first home game of the year against the highpowered offense of the saints. Our defense will have the task of trying to stop arguably the best quaterback in the league, Drew Brees, and our offense will have to put points on the board (likely) without Donovan. It's gonna be a very exciting game that could go either way. There are a couple of Key things the eagles will need to do to secure a victory.

1. Get Pressure on Drew Brees

 
There is no question that Brees is the engine that makes the Saints offense go. We need to pressure him consistently to prevent him from getting in a rhythm and marching down the field. The Saints will be without their Pro Bowl Left Tackle Jammal as he is not expected to play until October 25th at Miami (according to profootballtalk.com). Backup Jermon Bushrod will start at LT and that definitely makes Trent Cole a happy man come sunday. I think Sean will do a great job calling the plays and dialing up the blitzes.

2. Performance of the Offensive and Defensive Lines

I think the performance of the O-line will be the most important factor to getting a win. With Donovan battling through the rib fracture, it is more than likely that Kolb will start. The O-line needs to create a clean pocket to let him go through his progressions, make the right decisions, and most importantly keep him off his back. It will be a long day on offense if they cant give kevin time. One of the factors to whether or not Kevin will have time to make his reads is the ruling on the Starcaps situation regarding New Orleans Defensive Ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, Kolb should have all the time he needs if they are unable to play.

This relates to what i said before about Trent Cole. The D-line needs to get consistent pressure on Brees, collapse the pocket, and keep him out of a rythm. I think its safe to say that Sean will try to exploit Jermon Bushrod at LT with Cole going against him and blitzes to that side, but it isn't just the Trent Cole show anymore. Bunkley and patterson are pro bowl caliber DT's will have to come up big by getting pressure up the middle, flushing Brees out of the pockets for Cole and Abiamiri and the rest of the defense.

3. Ball Control

I expect to see a large dose of Westbrook and McCoy on sunday to take some of the pressure off Kolb. We need to run the ball effectively to keep our drives going and to set up play action. The last thing we can afford to have are 3 n' outs and turnovers. We dont want to give Brees anymore oppurtunities to score than we have to, its also important to avoid those two things because it would be a confidence booster for Kevin to know that he can lead the offense down the field for a score. He hasnt exaclty been impressive in the chances we have given him during the regular season, but this sunday (if he is starting)  will be the first true test of what he can do. He'll be taking all the reps for a full week with the first team in practice which will allow him to get on the same page as everyone else and potentially be more successful.

4. Stop the Run

Although the Saints do most of their damage through the air, Mike bell had 28 carries for 143 yards on sunday against the Lions. I don't expect them to have that type of production against us at all but if we can shut down their running game and force them into passing situations i believe our secondary will defend well and frustrate Brees. The defense played the run pretty well allowing 86 yards and one TD against Carolina but there were a bunch of missed tackles and we cant afford to do that this sunday.