NFC East: Tracy White
- Jason Avant, WR, 26
- Jason Babin, DE, 29
- Nick Cole, G/C, 25
- Omar Gaither (IR), LB, 25
- Chris Gocong, LB, 26
- Ellis Hobbs (IR), CB, 26
- Max Jean-Gilles, G, 26
- Sean Jones, S, 27
- Akeem Jordan, LB, 24
- Sav Rocca, P, 36
- Alex Smith, TE, 27
- Jeremiah Trotter, LB, 32
- Leonard Weaver, FB, 27
- Tracy White, LB, 28
In his latest blog entry, Sheil breaks down how defensive coordinator Sean McDermott has been rotating his defenders. The Eagles are blessed with a lot of talent along the defensive line and McDermott's not afraid to make wholesale changes to create the right matchups. In Sunday's game against the Broncos, McDermott tightened his rotation at defensive tackle while continuing to rotate his defensive ends.
As Sheil points out, that might have something to do with how well Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson are playing right now. They have been highly effective against the run, although Frank Gore did have a nice day recently.
Did you guys realize that Jeremiah Trotter didn't play a single snap in the second half against the Broncos after being relatively effective in the first half? Akeem Jordan moved over and played a lot of middle linebacker in the Eagles' base defense. He obviously gives the Eagles more versatility at that position. Here's the breakdown at linebacker against the Broncos in terms of total plays:
- Will Witherspoon -- 62
- Akeem Jordan -- 39
- Moise Fokou -- 26
- Jeremiah Trotter -- 12
- Tracy White -- 10
The game ended with Sean Jones intercepting a Jay Cutler pass. Tracy White caused the interception by reading Cutler's eyes and tipping a ball intended for Bears tight end Greg Olsen. It was a huge win for the Eagles (6-4) because it keeps them tied for second place in the NFC East with the Giants, one game behind the Cowboys.
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was 23-of-32 for 244 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. DeSean Jackson had eight catches for 107 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown in the second half. Jackson ran a simple post pattern and used his speed to race past a Bears safety.
With Asante Samuel having to leave the game with a stinger, the Eagles were seriously compromised at cornerback. But the Bears couldn't capitalize. In the fourth quarter, Bears receiver Johnny Knox got behind Sheldon Brown on a fly pattern but Cutler overthrew him.
The Eagles featured a balanced attack on offense with 30 running plays and 32 passes. Given a full week of first-string reps, McCoy had 20 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown. He ran through tackles and he also showed good vision. Jackson and rookie Jeremy Maclin both got it rolling in the second half. Last week, the Eagles' offense waited too late to get going. On Sunday night, the offense showed up just in time. There aren't many players who can stay with Jackson and Maclin, so the Eagles need to find ways to get them involved earlier.
The Eagles need to learn from this game. Jackson and McCoy need to secure the ball -- especially against defensive backs such as Tillman, who's known for stripping the ball. I thought the defense did a good job of staying in Cutler's face. Trent Cole had a sack and he also did a nice job of pursuing plays from behind.
I had sort of forgotten about Jeremiah Trotter, but he did a really nice job against the run, ending up with four tackles. He looked a lot more comfortable in this game. Now the Eagles will host the Redskins before playing the Falcons and Giants.
There's a chance the Eagles and Giants could be 8-4 when they see each other in three weeks. The NFC East lead could be on the line. But first, the Eagles have to take care of business against the Redskins. The Cowboys were outplayed by Washington on Sunday but escaped with a 7-6 win.
I thought safety Quintin Mikell and Brown both had courageous performances. Mikell was in one-on-one coverage more than usual because of all the injuries in the secondary and it was obvious that Brown wasn't himself because of a hamstring injury. Fortunately for the Eagles, Cutler missed wide-open receivers on at least three occasions.
Someone named Tracy White wants revenge
Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
The Philadelphia Eagles have a reserve linebacker named Tracy White who played for the Packers in 2007. He forced an R.W. McQuarters fumble on a punt return late in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game, but Domenik Hixon pounced on it and the Giants ended up winning in overtime. Now White wants some payback.
"It's a great opportunity, and I'm looking for revenge from last year," said White, who was signed by the Eagles on Oct. 14 after the Packers released him. "I caused a fumble on that punt, and we should have picked it up, and we probably would have won the game. But things happen, and now we have a chance to do the same thing."It might not be the championship, but we're still playing them in the playoffs. I'm looking forward to that."
Are we having fun yet? You know you're running out of story lines when a Tracy White quote sees the light of day.
Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
The Eagles showed Wednesday why you never take a fullback in the third round of the NFL draft. Tony Hunt, the Eagles 2007 pick, played in an offense at Penn State that didn't resemble the Eagles' and he wasn't a great blocker or receiver.
It usually takes a team a couple of years to give up on a third-round pick, but the Eagles didn't wait that long. Hunt didn't give them enough on offense or special teams to warrant sticking around.
The Eagles have brought in special teams ace Tracy White to replace Hunt. He's had 68 special teams tackles in 69 career games, which sounds pretty good to me. And what's up with the special teams in this division? The Eagles have struggled in special teams the last few years and the Cowboys have been awful this season under Bruce Read.
I had a longtime NFL coach call me Tuesday to say that Read is taking too much blame for Sunday's two special teams failures. The theory is that special teams always suffer under Wade Phillips because he doesn't place enough emphasis on them.
After Sunday's loss, he said the team "doubled" its efforts in special teams last week. Honestly, you shouldn't have to double your efforts at any point in the season in that department. You should already be spending a ton of time on special teams. Dallas Morning News NFL columnist Rick Gosselin is one of the most respected special teams experts in the league. Teams anxiously await his special teams rankings the week after the Super Bowl.
Gosselin said Wednesday that there are five special teams coaches in the NFL who can actually be considered "difference-makers." He doesn't list Read among those five.
And if Phillips gets fired after this season, one of the biggest reasons will be the team's failures on special teams.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Dan Graziano
Graziano joined ESPN.com in 2011 after two years as a Senior NFL Writer for AOL FanHouse. He covered Major League Baseball, the Olympics and various other sports during his time at the Star-Ledger and the Palm Beach Post. A New Jersey native and author of two published novels, he now lives in Ridgewood, N.J., with his wife and two sons.
