Bucs, Eagles prepare for defensive showdown
By Dan Pompei - The Sporting News
sports.yahoo.com
If you've been waiting for a low-scoring battle, this should be it -- the Bucs and Eagles bring the league's two best defenses into the NFC title game.
The one defense is a physically superior, anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better group that will party in your end zone and make you feel helplessly inadequate.
The other is all skyrockets and cherry bombs, with a now-you-see-it-now-you-don't concept that leaves your quarterback in the mud and the rest of your team pointing fingers at one another.
You don't want to be playing either one, and they will be on opposite sides of the field Sunday with the right to go to the Super Bowl on the line.
If this were a battle of only the defenses, Tampa Bay would win. The Bucs are the first team since the 1985 Bears to lead the league in fewest points allowed, fewest yards allowed and interceptions. Only four teams have allowed fewer points over a 16-game schedule than the 196 the Bucs gave up this season -- the 2000 Ravens (165), the 1986 Bears (187), the 2000 Titans (191) and the 1978 Steelers (195).
If Tampa can win two more games, its defense will go down as one of the best of all time. This is a tremendous incentive for the men who answer to coordinator Monte Kiffin's whistle. But if the Bucs' defense can't upstage the Eagles' defense, it will be remembered as just another pretty good unit.
Says Bucs safety John Lynch: "What we've done this year has been outstanding. In a league where offensive statistics have exploded, we took the trend the other way." And he adds: "One thing we're all aware of ultimately in terms of legacies is you're judged not in terms of statistics but in terms of championships. We have that opportunity to leave a tremendous legacy."
Falcons coach Dan Reeves says he doesn't know if any defense is as fast as the Bucs'. 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia won't argue the point after being intercepted three times, sacked four times and hurried or hit many more times in the Bucs' 31-6 victory at Raymond James Stadium last Sunday. Philadelphia's defense is defined by big plays and clutch stops. It led the league in sacks and third-down conversion percentage by opponents, and it carried the team for six games in the absence of injured quarterback Donovan McNabb.
"They have very different defenses with different strengths," Vikings coach Mike Tice says. "Philly gives you zone dog pressure. Tampa is a ton of speed. The Philly defense, because of their schemes, poses more of a challenge to an offense. The thing about Tampa is you know exactly what they're doing all the time as an offensive coach. With Philly, the schemes give you fits."
Philadelphia's schemes gave the Falcons fits in the Eagles' 20-6 playoff victory last Saturday night at the Vet. A delayed blitz up the middle flustered Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick into forcing a pass for Shawn Jefferson in the first quarter. The result was Bobby Taylor's interception and a 39-yard return for a touchdown. Afterward, guard Kynan Forney admitted that the Eagles' ever-changing looks prevented the Falcons from executing the way they wanted.
The Tampa Bay offense has more of a mental challenge preparing for the Philadelphia defense than the Philly offense has preparing for the Tampa Bay defense. "The Bucs' schemes are predictable, so they don't have to think as much as the players on other teams," Bears quarterback Jim Miller says. "They run two or three coverages, and that's it. That allows those guys to play as fast as possible, and they are the quickest defense.
"The Eagles run a lot more packages. They go from a Triple D (46 defense) to all the exotic blitzes. They run any kind of blitz known to man. They have a different package every week and always give you something you haven't seen."
It's safe to say the NFC championship game will be a defensive struggle between the two best defenses in the NFL.
The last time the Eagles and Bucs met, on October 20, the Eagles blitzed liberally and bothered quarterback Brad Johnson, who lacks the elusiveness to avoid pass rushers and the strong arm to get rid of the ball quickly.
It's likely Johnson will see a good amount of blitzing Sunday -- just as Vick did. "If they think the quarterback doesn't know what he is doing and the offensive line won't be able to pick it up, they'll blitz," Miller says. "If they feel they can't get to the quarterback, they'll back off and do things coverage-wise."
Johnson's style is to pick apart defenses from the pocket, protecting the ball and finding the open receiver. Taylor and Troy Vincent, the Eagles' Pro Bowl cornerbacks, don't have to worry about Johnson and a group of receivers with below-average speed going deep on them.
"They don't have the personnel for an explosive offense," Packers safety Darren Sharper says. "Brad Johnson is too conservative for that, in my opinion. He's smart, but he's too conservative to be explosive. Their receivers can't break any long runs. It's all short passes just like before, even though they have a different play-caller."
Even though Johnson isn't a spectacular talent, he is a consistently effective passer who means a great deal to his team. After Johnson missed two games at the end of the regular season because of a back injury, his value was easy to gauge against San Francisco. He even gave his team a lift when he was injured in that game, pumping his fist as he was leaving the field on a cart in the third quarter to have a gash on his forehead stitched.
If the Eagles' defense has a vulnerability, it is its run defense.
Little-known fact: The Eagles allowed 4.3 yards per rush this season, which was higher than the NFL average. The Eagles give up some rushing yards because they aren't exceptionally big up front. And they give up some because they get gashed on some of their blitzes.
But can the Bucs take advantage of this? Their running offense has picked up lately, gaining 100 or more yards in four of their last five games after rushing for 100 yards only three times in their first 12 games. Center Jeff Christy attributes this to familiarity, communication and attention to detail.
Still, the Bucs ranked 27th in the NFL in rushing, and they never really recovered from the loss of Warrick Dunn as a free agent. Moreover, their offensive line doesn't do their backs a lot of favors. "Their offensive linemen are not run blockers," Sharper says. "They are taller and rangier, built more for the short passing game. They are best at getting in your way for 3 seconds so the quarterback can get rid of it. Drive blocking isn't their thing."
What is their thing is the short passing game. "And based on the offensive line and the backs they have, that's pretty smart," Tice says. "They don't have the personnel to do it the other way. Any time they try to run, it seems like one guy gets free against them. That's a product of up front. They don't really have a blocking tight end."
In the October meeting between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, a 20-10 Eagles victory, Eagles running back Duce Staley had a season-best 152 rushing yards. The Eagles' big, powerful offensive line was able to block the Bucs' small, quick front seven and take advantage of some of the Bucs' movement up front. But the Bucs are quick to point out that the statistics made Staley look more dominating than he was. "You all talk about his success," Tampa cornerback Ronde Barber says. "He had one play in garbage time of the game for 70 yards (it actually was a 57-yarder on the last series of the game), and it looks like he had a huge day. Duce Staley is a heck of back, but let's be realistic about it."
Staley's running has been enhanced by a good line. "They've played together most of the year, so that makes it a lot easier for Duce," Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith says. "But he gets yards on his own, too." The word on the Bucs is they can be run on with what is commonly and coincidentally called "Deuce" personnel. That's two tight ends, two backs and one receiver.
So the Bucs are preparing for a second helping of Duce. "They're going to run early; they're going to run in the middle, and they're going to run late, and we have to be up to that challenge," Lynch says.
The Bucs also will be challenged by McNabb, the player who Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas says "is the Philadelphia Eagles." McNabb gave his team an emotional boost last week in his return from a broken ankle. By showing he can run and take a hit, he provided a dimension that had been missing from the Philly offense under A.J. Feeley. But it won't be as easy for McNabb to march through the Bucs as it was for him to march through the Falcons. The Bucs have held opponents to a 43.2 passer rating this season.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the Bucs will be the climate. The forecast for Sunday in Philadelphia is screaming fans and biting cold, and the Bucs still have never won a meaningful game in their history in temperatures below 40. As they watched the Eagles beat the Falcons on television last Saturday night, Bucs players couldn't help but notice "the steam coming out of their mouths." This should not be confused with the steam that is likely to be coming out of coach Jon Gruden's ears Sunday if the Bucs are better at swarming the space heaters on the sideline than they are the Eagles' ballcarriers.
Then there is the Bucs' recent history against the Eagles at the Vet. In addition to the Eagles' victory three months ago, Philadelphia has knocked Tampa Bay out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. The three games are hardly distinguishable. Each was a convincing Eagles victory in which the Bucs couldn't score enough.
The Bucs believe their offense has improved, their defense never has been better and they have become a better team, and all of it is true. Wide receiver Keenan McCardell goes so far as to say the Bucs' offense now is as confident as their defense.
But unless the Bucs' offense plays as well Sunday as its defense, which is a long shot, this season will end just as the last two did for Tampa Bay.
Senior writer Dan Pompei covers the NFL for The Sporting News. Email him at pompei@sportingnews.com. |
