The Defense

[shorebird]

It's really something to see how far he has progressed since last year.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Not sure if this was posted somewhere....but it's further proof how ludicrous this coaching staff and FO have become:

Abiamiri's return perfectly timed
Defense gets needed boost after Klecko's shift

By GEOFF MOSHER
The News Journal

PHILADELPHIA -- Suddenly, the most stable unit of Jim Johnson's defense is in flux.

Dan Klecko's abrupt move from defensive tackle to fullback on Wednesday left the Eagles short by one in their four-man rotation -- just in time for Victor Abiamiri to step in.

Abiamiri, a second-year pro who underwent wrist surgery at the end of July and only recently began to practice, took snaps at defensive tackle the past two days to replace Klecko in Johnson's tackle carousel.

Johnson said Abiamiri would probably play in small doses Sunday against the 49ers and mainly at defensive tackle in nickel situations, just enough snaps for Abiamiri to shake off the cobwebs and get a sniff of some action before they head into the bye week afterward.

Abiamiri's return made possible Klecko's move back to fullback, which allowed Tony Hunt's move back to halfback.

With Brian Westbrook's fractured ribs and Lorenzo Booker's slower-than-anticipated transition into the offense, the Eagles were suddenly thin at running back and needed Hunt in case Correll Buckhalter and Booker aren't enough.

"I think it [Abiamiri's return] is a big plus for us, and that's the reason we were able to do it," Johnson said.

Abiamiri will have to dig for playing time on a line that isn't accustomed to giving up much, especially the interior tandem of Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley, the bullies most responsible for a run defense that until last Sunday's blip against the taterskins had ranked No. 1 against the run.

The strongest teams always have great depth, and the Eagles had been able to sustain success by plugging in Klecko and rookie Trevor Laws when Bunkley and Patterson needed a break.

Klecko had excelled in the team's nickel defense, his two sacks already a personal best and one less than his career total.

Laws, a rookie asked to learn a complex scheme, has impressed Johnson enough to warrant more snaps in the rotation.

"He's going to play some more," Johnson said of Laws. "More and more every week it seems like he's getting better."

Laws, the team's top overall draft pick in April, has averaged about 10-15 snaps per game.

"I think I've been definitely playing better, hopefully getting better each week," the dreadlocked Laws said.

"I think that probably helped them [the coaches] know they can feel a little better putting me in there, knowing I can get the job done."

Laws and Abiamiri were once roommates at Notre Dame and played alongside each other on the Irish defensive line, with Laws at left tackle and Abiamiri at left end.

Both were considered standout run stoppers. But in their final game together, the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State rolled up 617 yards of total offense, 275 on the ground, to humble the Irish 34-20.

"That was a rough one," Laws said.

Abiamiri barely played last season, when the Eagles drafted him with their second pick in the second round, 37th overall, but he practiced at both tackle and end.

After impressing the coaches during his offseason workouts, he entered training camp as the front-runner to start at left end until he dislocated his right wrist on the first day of contact practice and underwent surgery.

While he's been sidelined, Juqua Parker re-emerged at left end. Parker leads the team 3.5 sacks, making it tough for Abiamiri to reclaim the starting job he never officially had won.

"It's definitely part of the deal," Abiamiri said. "If guys are playing well, that's good. It helps our team out and that's good.

"It'll be even better for us across the board with a little more depth and [we can] have more guys with fresh legs in there. It'll help us down the stretch."

Abiamiri practiced mostly with the scout team at defensive end last and practiced at both end and tackle positions this week.

He still wears a hard cast around his hand and wrist, but his fingers are uncovered and he said he's not limited by the padding.

As for playing the tackle position for the first time, well, he's eager to see what happens.

"It's kind of a trial-and-error kind of thing," he said. "I'll see what I can handle, and what I can't."

So a guy who was a tailback and couldn't hack it that got moved to fullback and couldn't hack it gets moved back to tailback, replaced by a guy who was a rotational defensive tackle, who in turn gets replaced by a guy who was a defensive end his entire college career and was drafted as one. He'll be awesome at tackle. About as good as Klecko will be as the starting Fullback, or Hunt as a halfback.

farging. Retarded.

And I love the "trial and error" quote. Yeah, that goes well with "pedal to the metal" and "we feel we are a championship caliber team".

[QB Eagles]

As long as they're testing out ridiculous shtein, how about trying Rocca at long field goals?

[ice grillin you]

its at the stage now where you flip flop btwn being infuriated and just laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all...i hope i get to the point real soon where i dont get mad at this shtein anymore...maybe that will be in the next few weeks when the flyers and sixers are both under way

[Seabiscuit36]

amazing, but expected

[Magical_Retard]

its at the stage now where you flip flop btwn being infuriated and just laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all...i hope i get to the point real soon where i dont get mad at this shtein anymore...maybe that will be in the next few weeks when the flyers and sixers are both under way

i say that every yr and it never happens.

[shorebird]

What NFL team that thinks it's an actual championship calibur team operates like this?? Trial and error in the middle of a two game losing streak??

Brilliant!!

[Feva]

its at the stage now where you flip flop btwn being infuriated and just laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all...i hope i get to the point real soon where i dont get mad at this shtein anymore...maybe that will be in the next few weeks when the flyers and sixers are both under way

I try to get there... and here and there, I can.  But I can barely watch what this fat motherfarger has done with my team over the last few years.

Sometimes you just gotta admit a guy sucks and that means you need to get his ass off the team... not try to make his ass fit somewhere else.  All this RB at FB at DT at DE at LB shtein is just farging embarassing.

[PhillyPhreak54]

But Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy do it!

[ice grillin you]

its at the stage now where you flip flop btwn being infuriated and just laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all...i hope i get to the point real soon where i dont get mad at this shtein anymore...maybe that will be in the next few weeks when the flyers and sixers are both under way

I try to get there... and here and there, I can.  But I can barely watch what this fat motherfarger has done with my team over the last few years.

Sometimes you just gotta admit a guy sucks and that means you need to get his ass off the team... not try to make his ass fit somewhere else.  All this RB at FB at DT at DE at LB shtein is just farging embarassing.

it really is

the problem again goes back to accountability...of which there is none....you can experiment and mess around with your roster like youre coaching a fantasy team and you can make accoutants player personell people when you know there will be no repercussions...thats just how it is and thats the part that makes me wanna give up...the part where you get pissed off to no end is the audacious and crass attitude these people have towards the whole world...from the refusal to acknowledge the history of the team to hoagiegate to the gold standard to ripping the fans to say nothing pressers to not even having pressers...to blackballing players...and on and on and on...the way they treat a fanbase that is arguably the best in all of pro sports is one of the worst things ive ever seen....its one thing to be incompetant or just not care like a norman bramen and if they were just clueless it would almost be better than to be arrogant how they are

[SD_Eagle5]

link

Paul Domowitch: How Eagles started tying up loose tight ends


By Paul Domowitch
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Sports Columnist

THE EAGLES' defense is doing a lot of things exceptionally well these days.

They're keeping people out of the end zone (three touchdowns in the last four games). They're snuffing the run (3.3 yards allowed per carry in the last eight games). They are forcing turnovers (13 in the last six games). They are frustrating the hell out of opposing quarterbacks (.491 completion percentage and 5.38 yards allowed per attempt in the last seven games).

They also have taken the opposing tight end out of play, which wasn't the case earlier this season.

In the first nine games, opposing tight ends feasted on the Eagles like Yogi Bear going after a pic-a-nic basket, catching 47 passes and averaging a hefty 13.6 yards per catch.

"I never used to worry that much about tight ends," defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said. "But when they started getting big yards and making plays down in the red zone, that's when you pay more attention to it."

Johnson did more than pay attention to it. He made a couple of fairly significant changes to rectify the situation. The first was giving strong safety Quintin Mikell primary responsibility for covering the tight end on first and second downs.

The second was benching weakside linebacker Omar Gaither after the Eagles' Week 11 tie with Cincinnati and replacing him with the more athletic Akeem Jordan, who generally is matched up against the tight end on passing downs.

Like just about every other move Johnson has made this season, these have paid big dividends. In the last eight games, opposing tight ends have caught just 28 passes and averaged only 8.2 yards per catch.

The starting tight ends for the other three teams in the NFC East - the Cowboys' Jason Witten, the taterskins' Chris Cooley and the Giants' Kevin Boss - combined for 21 receptions, two TDs and a 13.7 yards-per-catch average the first time around against the Eagles. The second time around, the Eagles held them to 12, zero and 6.8.

"Sometimes, you just get into matchups you don't want," Johnson said. "We've been more careful in our matchups. I've used Quintin and Akeem. One of the main reasons I brought Akeem in [as a starter] was to match up with the tight end.

"People say, 'Well, what about Omar?' Omar did a good job. I just felt that Akeem was ready to play. I thought he could do a good job with the run defense, which he has. And I liked his matchup [against the tight end]."

In last week's 26-14, wild-card win over the Vikings, the Eagles held tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who had three TDs and averaged 14.9 yards per catch in the previous four games, to one catch for 7 yards. The week before that, they held Witten, who caught seven passes for 110 yards against them in Week 2, to 7.1 yards per catch.

"Witten's a hard guy to match up with," Johnson said of the Cowboys' wide-bodied, 6-5, 262-pound tight end. "Quintin is about the only guy who can match up with him."

Boss caught six passes for 69 yards and a touchdown in the Giants' 36-31 win over the Eagles in Week 10. In the Week 14 rematch won by the Eagles, 20-14, he was held to one catch for 5 yards. Johnson is confident that Mikell and Jordan will be able to keep him in check.

"[Boss] has had a good year," Johnson said. "He's not [Jeremy] Shockey as far as down-the-field speed. But he's a good tight end. Quintin has good athletic ability. He has a little bit of that corner ability. For a safety, he's got very good closing quickness. He's got pretty good speed. He's a very competitive guy. A tough guy."

[shorebird]

The D was great today, they made some clutch plays.

[The BIGSTUD]

Better than the Ravens D right now.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Very important that Mikell wasn't seriously hurt.

Considine made the one good play in his stead, but was lucky interference or illegal contact was not called.

[Feva]

The last 6 weeks, the defense has given up 4 TD's, scored 4TD's... forced 13 turnovers, 10 sacks and is giving up an average of 10.8 ppg.

Lights. Out.