I just finished watching the tape of the Eagles' first preseason game against the Jaguars last night, and one thing I paid particular attention to was how the Eagles tackled. The Eagles did not miss a tackle until there was 13:36 remaining in the 4th Quarter last night, when Jared Perry and Jordan Norwood each missed a tackle on a kick return.
Tackling was an issue last year, as Football Outsiders credited the Eagles with 84 missed tackles, as seen in this chart put together by Derek of IgglesBlog. Last weekend at Lehigh, Quintin Mikell talked about the Eagles' team speed, and why we should see an improvement in tackling this season...
"Sometimes the first guy in might not make the tackle, but we gotta have three, four guys ready to swarm on them, and that's alright. Last year our tackling wasn't great. If you look at it, it wasn't too too bad, it was just we didn't get enough guys to the ball after (the first tackler). I think the speed will help that."
"I think as long as we're playing fast, with our speed, and everybody getting to the ball, tackling won't be an issue this year."
For last night at least, the first defender to the ball was enough.