Winning Recipe vs. Eagles: Bunch of Grit, Dash of Luck
By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
It is a feat that no NFC team has come particularly close to managing this season, but beating the Philadelphia Eagles is possible, as one of the AFC heavyweights, the Pittsburgh Steelers, demonstrated last month.
The Steelers used powerful running, rugged defense and good fortune to beat the Steelers, 27-3, a terrific combination if an opponent can find a way to bring the components together on the same day.
Several assistant coaches and executives on teams that have faced the Eagles said this week that the formula for beating them is to control the clock and the game by running the ball straight at their defense, limiting the big plays of wide receiver Terrell Owens and tailback Brian Westbrook and then hoping that quarterback Donovan McNabb doesn't find a way to win. The Washington Redskins get the next chance to try to put that plan into action when they host the Eagles on Sunday night at FedEx Field.
"They're not unbeatable,'' said one official for an NFC team, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid riling up the Eagles in future games against his team. "But you have to play them the way Pittsburgh played them -- tough, hard-nosed, push them around. And if you're not the Steelers or the Patriots, you have to have a little luck, too. If they're on their game against anyone else, they're going to win.''
The Eagles mostly have been on their game, rolling to an 11-1 record and clinching their fourth consecutive NFC East title after only 11 games. They raced to 35-0 and 47-3 leads this past Sunday in Philadelphia en route to a 47-17 triumph over the Green Bay Packers, who entered the game with a six-game winning streak and hopes that they might be the conference's second-best team. The Eagles have beaten each of their nine NFC opponents by at least 10 points, with an average winning margin of 19.4 points. Their average margin of victory against NFC East clubs has been 21.3 points.
But the Eagles aren't undefeated, thanks to the Nov. 7 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field. The key to that game was that the Steelers amassed 252 rushing yards, 149 of them by bullish tailback Jerome Bettis. Pittsburgh's offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, and the Steelers had possession of the ball for just less than 42 of the game's 60 minutes. The Steelers jumped in front early, which enabled them to keep running the ball. Rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw only 18 passes but made them count, with 11 completions for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
The Eagles' run defense has been their soft spot for the past two seasons. They rank only 14th among the NFL's 32 teams in rushing defense, yielding 114.8 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry. But defensive coordinator Jim Johnson reshuffled his lineup after the Pittsburgh game, inserting Jeremiah Trotter at middle linebacker and moving Mark Simoneau from middle to outside linebacker, and the Eagles have been pleased with the results.
Johnson knows how to design effective blitzes and the Philadelphia defense makes big plays when it needs them; the Eagles have surrendered the second-fewest points in the league, so opposing offenses must capitalize when they get scoring chances. For the Redskins, that means handing the ball often to tailback Clinton Portis, having quarterback Patrick Ramsey avoid risky throws and hoping that Ramsey connects when they do take shots down the field to try to take advantage of the aggressiveness of Philadelphia's young starting cornerbacks, Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. Offenses must make certain to get left defensive end Jevon Kearse blocked in pass-rushing situations and must account for ball-hawking safety Brian Dawkins.
Against the Eagles' offense, opponents say, the objective is to use defensive manpower to try to keep Owens out of the end zone, either by double-teaming him or tilting a zone coverage in his direction, and then make sure that Westbrook doesn't get matched up one on one against a linebacker or a safety. That's how the Packers tried to defend him last weekend, and Westbrook caught 11 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Owens had eight receptions for 161 yards and his 14th touchdown of the season.
"You can forget their running game,'' said one AFC defensive coordinator whose team played the Eagles this season, also speaking on the condition that he not be identified. "They'd rather use their short passing game than run the ball. You have to play the pass. You have to tackle Owens when he gets the ball because he's a great runner after the catch. You have to pay attention to Westbrook and make McNabb throw the ball to the other guys. Those guys might beat you, but probably not. And you have to pressure McNabb, but in a very disciplined way. He doesn't take off and run it like he used to. He'd rather sit back there and throw now. But if you give him an open lane, he can still take off and hurt you.''
McNabb has become an adept, accurate pocket passer. He completed his first 14 passes against the Packers, setting an NFL record with 24 straight completions over a two-game span. He is connecting on 65 percent of his passes this season, and he threw for career bests of 464 yards and five touchdowns against Green Bay.
"I don't listen to what people say about my accuracy," McNabb said. "People who have a problem with my accuracy can take a look at my winning percentage. If they have a problem with that, then tough luck."
Of course, a defense can do most things right and still get carved up if McNabb is on his game. That's where luck enters into it. There's always a chance the Eagles will have an off day, but the odds are worsening, with the team seemingly intent on not letting up. Since their loss in Pittsburgh, the Eagles have won all four of their games by at least 21 points, including a 28-6 victory over the Redskins on Nov. 21 at Lincoln Financial Field. They humiliated the Packers on the week after clinching the division title. Their loss in Pittsburgh came with Westbrook recovering from a cracked rib suffered during an overtime win at Cleveland two weeks before, but he is now close to fully healthy.
"We keep doing the same thing,'' Westbrook said after the Green Bay game. "We keep trying to dominate teams. And when we have them down, we have to keep them down. . . . Any time we go out and execute like we did [Sunday], we are going to win ballgames. I don't think any defense can stop us. The thing that is going to stop us is ourselves. Any time we go out and get penalties and don't execute well, we are stopping ourselves. [Last Sunday] we were able to eliminate a lot of the penalties.''
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