Quote:
Originally Posted by GTripp0012
Two illegal contact penalties made the defensive effort look a lot worse than it was. These things had nothing to do with the plays, and will not be repeated going down the stretch.
The defensive issues are few and far between, but just schematic and strategic holes that the better offensive teams are exploiting, while the worse offensive teams are missing.
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Great breakdown. A couple of thoughts:
The first illegal contact call on Smoot was really iffy... There's far more contact on just about every passing play in NFL, and Smoot was obviously trying to turn and run; not impede the receivers progress. That call set the tone early, because the Eagles scored on that drive and gained momentum. It would've been a different game without that call.
I agree that there are not(at least not before Taylor went out) a ton of issues with the defense, but the one major weakness is glaring. The middle/intermediate area of the field is wide open. London Fletcher is a beast, but it seems like he's responsible for the entire middle area of the defense, from the line of scrimmage to 15 yards deep. Even someone with his ability can't be expected to cover all of that real estate. I'm afraid to see what happens with Taylor out this week...