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By now it's no secret that the Eagles offense looks really good. Philadelphia has the second most yards per game (477) and the third most points per game (31.5) through the first two weeks of the 2013 NFL season.
Meanwhile, the Eagles defense has struggled. Philly's offense is the life force of their success. If the offense falters, this team could be in a really bad position.
So it's only natural the Kansas City Chiefs are concerned with stopping the Eagles offense when the two teams square off on Thursday Night Football. Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton spoke to the KC media on Tuesday. He had high praise for the Eagles offense.
Courtesy of Arrowhead Pride, here's what Sutton had to say about stopping the unstoppable:
Bob Sutton on his impressions of the Eagles offense
"We obviously have studied them a lot in the offseason, and we’ve been in here grinding since last night, so we’ve seen most of their games, most of their preseason games. I don’t think the problem will be seeing (film on) them, the problem is getting the gameplan in and executing. The only concern we have is that you can’t go at full-tempo to see it. This is a really good offensive system, and I think Chip (Kelly) proved that at Oregon and it’s based on really solid things.
You get caught up in the tempo, which they do a great job of, but really the way the system is run is really good. I’m an old option guy, so you have a great appreciation for what they’re doing. Certainly yesterday they proved that it isn’t just running, they passed for over 400 yards. It says a lot about the flexibility of the system and how you can tilt it or slant it whatever way you want based on what the defense is doing. It’s going to be a great challenge when you put that in there.
They have three game-breaking type players when you go at quarterback, wide receiver and running back. Those are all guys that can make a house call in a second on you. You have to understand what you’re dealing with here. Really good tackling is number one, we have to tackle well. Having dealt with Shady (LeSean) McCoy in the past – he is one of the really unique backs in our league. Obviously (DeSean) Jackson outside, all of these guys can turn a play into a huge play and that’s what we have to try to eliminate."
Sutton on Michael Vick:
He’s played extremely well. When you have a quarterback rating like he does (119.0) and four touchdowns and no interceptions, he’s averaging (5.1) yards a carry, that’s a pretty good start on a good season. He’s obviously directing that offense, which is all at the line of scrimmage.
He’s been a really good football player, he’s always been a guy you have to deal with and he always has that capability to make the play within the play. That’s the hardest thing to defend on a guy like that, I think he’s adapted and it appears from an outsider’s view that he’s comfortable in what he does right now in the system and it’s certainly highlighting some of the abilities he has – whether it’s as a runner, he has a great arm as everybody knows, (the ball) is in there as soon as you turn around.
He’s got tremendous velocity on the ball, there’s not a lot of break time involved with this. He’s proven early in this season to be a pretty accurate quarterback. We think he’s playing really, really well. Those three guys (McCoy, Jackson and Vick), that’s a dynamic combination of players between the running back, the wideout and Michael at quarterback."
Sutton on the Eagles fast pace:
"Realistically, whatever group that’s out there for us, personnel wise, is going to be out there period. In their system of offense, they’re not going to allow you an opportunity to substitute. We recognize that, we deal with that all the time. Just like anytime you send a group out there, you have to have flexibility in the calls, and you want to make sure that the right adjustments are made.
I think the great thing that you have to work on, on defense when you’re in no-huddle like the tempo they are is that you have to make sure whatever call is coming in from the boundaries, from the sideline is getting communicated out throughout the entire defense. It’s still football, and I think one of the things you want to do is you still want to look at what the formation is. You can’t just be happy that you got the call, you need to get your cleats into the ground, you need to get your eyes where they’re supposed to be and you still need to be able to play. Sometimes that’s harder than others, but you just have to roll with it, it’s a way of life in the National Football League right now.
I think, like most things, players and coaches are all adapting to it. You just accept it as part of it. We’re going to have to adjust to that on the game field. I feel like our players are up to that challenge, and we have to work hard and go. If they get us on one, that’s fine, they get us, so we have to line up and play the next play no different than anything else. It’s going to be a challenge, and it becomes even more challenging (when you’re facing) a great system with some great pieces there."
Sutton on the read-option:
At Oregon, before he ever got to Philadelphia, I studied his film in the past out of curiosity because I think it’s a great system. We just have to try to understand it and the bottom line is you still have to be able to play block, you still have to be able to help. If you don’t do those two things very well, you’re not going to play very well on defense. We just have to make sure we don’t lose sight of that, that this is still football and the things we have to do every week are still demanding of us. Attack, block protection, tackle, swarm to the ball, those things that allow you to be successful are not going away.
This is a different approach to football. They spread you out obviously, they get to option one guy that they don’t have to block and that can sometimes give you leverage on offense from the standpoint that somebody has to be back here to take care of this guy, or somebody has to be back here to take care of this quarterback . It’s just like any system, you try to adapt to what they’re doing to you and hopefully you can figure it out as fast as possible."