Slowly compiling info for the NFC championship game. Here's the best breakdown I've seen of the Falcons' defense, and how they match up with the Eagle offense. I got this from a friend on an Eagle fan site, you'd be suprised how well some of these guys "handicap" these games, even if they have no intentions of laying a penny on the game. I guess the emotional investment is enough.
Kerney and Smith are classic 4-3 ends, and Jasper really is a 4-3 NT. They signed Coleman in the offseason from Oakland (I wanted to sign him and trade Simon) who plays the "under" DT spot. Coleman's very quick, but undersized, 6-2 285, if he doesn't get a good jump off the snap, he's dogmeat, and he wears down after 45 snaps or so. They got a journeyman, Lake, and Chad Lavais, rookie from LSU who's decent with upside. Backing up the ends is Travis Hall, a converted DT, think an older version of Whiting.
Matt Stewart is a decent SLB with average speed, Chris Draft is a Sims clone, even smaller at 5-11 235, about as fast, was good in the 3-4 as an ILB but a little overmatched as a MLB. They've moved Brookings to WLB to take advantage of his side speed combo, and look for him to either shadow Westbrook or blitz.
Corners are DeAngelo Hall, raw but a great athlete, Jason Webster (5-9) who's struggled with injuries, and Kevin Mathis (5-9 177) who has a high ankle sprain. Behind them is Aaron Beasley, big but slow, and Rossum. Safeties are Cory Hall who couldn't cut it in Cincy and Bryan Scott, a PSU CB who was moved to SS, Scott is a decent tackler with average speed, could be matched up against LJ. They play a lot of soft zone, (allowed 63% completion and 7.2 ypa) but might be tempted to press and blitz like Mora did to us in SF and Donatell in Green Bay - but their CBs aren't experienced at the technique and the safeties have only average speed - so if Pinky or Lewis beat the jam DMAC will air it out.
Falcons play much better defense at home, where they really turn it on once they have a lead, they had 31 sacks at home v 17 on the road, second half of the season (6 games before they did what we did), 16 sacks in 4 home games, 2 in 2 road games (Bucs and Giants), so you can see they're not the same on the road. Crowd noise is a big factor, far more false starts by the opposition in Atlanta than on the road. Because their defensive line is undersized, they need to get off the ball quickly or they'll be enveloped by our much bigger offensive line. They've defended well against the run by penetrating the gaps. Look for the Eagles to exploit their aggressiveness with screens and misdirection, slow down the rush with hard counts, and run draws with Levens to keep Coleman honest. If we can get them to hestitate on the snap, our line will ovewhelm them and wear them down. And if McNabb gets time, we'll chew up their secondary.
Hope it helps, more to come...
GL with the play next week BM. I totally agree with you. They will go out there and prove that they can win big with no TO against any of these teams
