Answering Questions

***

There is no hot topic of the day so I'm going to address some recent questions.


RE: is Aaron Kampman a legit target

I think so. I doubt he will be the primary target at LDE because he tore his ACL in November. He's also 30 years old. Aaron came from the same draft class as Lito, Sheldon, and Mike Lewis. Aaron was a poor fit for the Packers new 3-4 scheme. He is a natural LDE. I think they will let him go and hope for a decent Comp. pick. Kampman is the type of player who would be a great fit for our style of play. He isn't an explosive athlete that just flies up the field. He understands about working up the field, but also playing the run as you go. If his knee were healthy Kampman would be a perfect target for us.


RE: will the 3 losses to Dallas have a ripple effect?

I hope so. In 2007 we got swept by the Giants. The first loss was by 13 points and was the Osi game. The second loss was by 3 points. We missed some key starters in the first loss and that made the game worse than it was. We didn't make a lot of special personnel changes due to those games, but we did make some changes in our strategy. We started keeping in extra blockers. We really helped our OL. We also made the running game more of a focal point against NY. Since then we are 4-1 vs the G-men.

Dallas didn't beat us in squeakers. They whipped our butts. We can make some schematic changes, but we also need some personnel moves. Andy Reid has made division games a focus since coming to Philly. I'm sure the losses to the Evil Empire will have a major impact on our offseason plans.


RE: defensive changes

Don't count on anything major. Execution trumps strategy in the NFL. Monte Kiffin had a very simple playbook at Tampa for his decade of running the defense. Was anyone better at D in that period? Green Bay had a good year in their new 3-4, but gave up 45 offensive points last week. We got destroyed by Dallas and only gave up 34. I know that Dallas changed in the 2nd half, but we also held them scoreless in the 1st Qtr. 27 of 34 points came in the 2nd Qtr. Depressing and amazing. The Patriots run one of the most complex schemes in the league. They gave up .9 less yards per game. Denver did some very creative stuff on defense. They gave up .8 points less per game. Scheme can be overrated.

Jim Johnson was a genius in 2000-2002. He had Hugh, Corey, Trot, Dawk, Troy, Bobby, Al, etc. He struggled in 2003 when that group was gone or injured. The D had problems in 2006 when some key guys got old and/or started to underachieve.

A good coach knows how to use good players and how to get good results. Sean will do a better job as we solve a few problems and get some stability. Would JJ have done a better job in 2009? Probably so. He's a mastermind. Sean is learning on the job. Don't fool yourself into thinking that Jim would have made the defense significantly better. That isn't the case.


RE: Zep reference

I'm glad someone got that. I am a huge Led head.


RE: Safety in 2010

Mikell did have a down year this season. There is no doubt about that. He wasn't awful, but he was too sloppy. Paul Domowitch recently speculated that Q might have been trying to do too much to cover up for FS problems. That makes a lot of sense to me. I do think Mikell will be better in 2010. There's no way FS is as much of a circus, if for no other reason than Demps and Macho will be a year older.

FS is going to be a real interesting position. The team wanted Demps to get the job. He dropped the ball. They had signed Sean Jones as insurance. He didn't impress over the summer. Rookie Macho Harris did impress and got the job. Things didn't work out great. The Eagles had a plan, a backup plan, and an emergency plan.

What will be the plan this year? We can have a competition for the job between Demps and Macho? We can draft a player, but he wouldn't be a sure thing to start in 2010. I don't know what the FA pool looks like now with the CBA mess. I don't have much interest in Sean Jones coming back. He's more of a SS.

Most of the good FA targets won't be FAs without a new CBA deal. That could limit our choices. Guys like OJ Atogwe and Nick Collins are playmakers. Antoine Bethea could be of interest. We just don't know if they'll be available. Ryan Clark of PIT is a veteran who could be of interest to come in here and help develop the young guys. One player I'd have interest in trading for is Vincent Fuller of the Titans. He's mainly been a backup, but he is productive and has solid cover skills.

I'd love to find a pro personnel solution, but in the end it may come down to a battle of Macho, Demps, and a rookie.


RE: blitzing - pressure & coverage

We do various kinds of blitzing. Our zone blitzes don't require press coverage. Those are plays where only 4 or 5 guys are coming so there are plenty of guys back in coverage. The goal is to fool the offense as to which players are rushing and which are dropping back.

Other plays we rush our DL and other players. The goal is to hit the QB or force a quick throw. You can play press coverage to try and limit offenses. You can also have your CBs play off and try to read the ball so they can break on it and try to come up with a pick. I can't say one system clearly works better than the other. The big problem this year was that we had coverage breakdowns.


RE: Could you pen any thoughts on the running game?

I don't write fiction.

I'll start thinking about that as I prepare for my Season Review stuff. Depressing stats.
_