Game Review: Eagles Defense Vs. Colts

Here’s a player-by-player look at what we saw from the Eagles’ defense against the Colts, after having re-watched.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Fletcher Cox – Another strong showing. Cox got into the backfield and dropped Trent Richardson for a 3-yard loss in the second. His athleticism was on full display on the third-quarter play where Cox chased Andrew Luck to the sideline and forced him out of bounds short of the sticks. Great job on the forced fumble in the third. That was a huge play that got a bit lost in the comeback. Cox also stuffed an Ahmad Bradshaw run for 2 yards in the fourth. The Eagles had problems stopping the run in the first half. Cox got walled off on Richardson’s 15-yard run in the second. He played 85 percent of the Eagles’ snaps.

Bennie Logan – Good game from Logan. Very nice play stopping Bradshaw after a 1-yard run in the first. He dropped Bradshaw again on a 1-yard run in the third and helped stop him after a 2-yard run in the third. On the Colts’ final drive, Logan helped finish off Richardson for a 1-yard loss. He played 60 percent of the snaps.

Cedric Thornton – He was steady once again. Thornton and Cox combined to bring Richardson down for no gain in the red zone in the first. He and Logan stopped Bradshaw after a 2-yard run in the third. Thornton shed his block and tackled Bradshaw after a 2-yard gain in the fourth. On the flip side, Thornton missed a tackle on Bradshaw’s 8-yard run in the first. He played 69 percent of the snaps.

Vinny Curry – Two good hurries from Curry. He came on a stunt and hit Luck to force an incompletion on third down in the second. Nice rush off the edge, forcing Luck to climb the pocket in the second. And it looked like he got held on Luck’s big scramble in the third. He played 28 percent of the snaps.

Beau Allen – The Eagles’ second-team defensive line did not play well against the run. Allen was blocked by the tight end on Richardson’s 15-yard run in the first. He was later double teamed and pushed back on Richardson’s 5-yard run. Allen played 14 percent of the snaps.

Brandon Bair – Bair lost his balance and got blocked to the ground on Richardson’s 15-yard run in the first. He played 15 percent of the snaps.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Connor Barwin – Once again, he did a bunch of Connor Barwin things. He got his hand on a quick screen attempt in the first and forced an incompletion. He tackled Richardson on a 2-yard run in the first. Barwin affected a Luck pass off the edge in the second. He flushed Luck out of the pocket on third down in the third. Good rush in the fourth as he and DeMeco Ryans both nailed Luck, but the QB still completed the pass. One the first TD, he got cut down by the TE. Barwin was called for a neutral zone infraction in the first. I’m not sure if he or Casey Matthews was responsible for Bradshaw on the fourth-quarter TD. He played 86 percent of the snaps.

Trent Cole – Many of the first-half runs went to his side. Cole missed a tackle on Richardson’s 10-yard run in the second. And he got blocked on Richardson’s 15-yard run in the second. There were good moments too. He helped blow up a Colts run that lost 4 yards in the first. It looked like he forced the Richardson fumble in the first, but the Colts recovered it. Cole was one of several Eagles who jumped offsides on third down in the second. He beat his man and pressured Luck into an incompletion in the third. Cole brought Richardson down after a 3-yard run in the fourth. And he blew up a Richardson run that gained 3 in the fourth. He played 82 percent of the snaps.

Brandon Graham – Relatively quiet game. Graham pressured Luck from LDE and forced an incompletion in the third. He was called for a neutral zone infraction on third down in the second. He played 32 percent of the snaps.

Bryan Braman – Did not play any defensive snaps. Called for an illegal block in the back on Sproles’ first punt return.

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

DeMeco Ryans – The box score credited him with 10 tackles. Ryans was a big reason why the run defense was better in the second half. He dropped Richardson after a 1-yard pickup in the first, but couldn’t get off the TE’s block on Richardson’s 15-yard run in the second. Good job in coverage, breaking up a pass intended for Dwayne Allen in the second. Ryans and Barwin crushed Luck in the fourth, but he still completed the pass. Ryans got just enough of Luck on the next play, stopping him after a 3-yard scramble. He brought Richardson down after a 3-yard carry in the fourth and stopped Richardson again on the next play. Ryans dropped Bradshaw for a 1-yard loss in the fourth. He burst into the backfield on the Colts’ final drive and disrupted a run that lost a yard. He played every snap.

Mychal Kendricks – He left the game with a calf injury in the second half and is listed as day to day. When Kendricks played, he played well. He dropped Richardson for a 4-yard loss in the first. He assisted Barwin in tackling Richardson after a 2-yard run in the first. It looked like he got a hit on Luck on a third-down completion in the first. Kendricks slid past the guard and helped disrupt a Richardson run that picked up 1 yard in the first. He was taken out by the fullback on Richardson’s 15-yard run in the second. In coverage, it looked like he got greedy in the second, vacating his zone and allowingLuck to dump it off to Bradshaw for a 5-yard gain in the red zone. Good job in coverage later, nearly coming up with an INT in the second.

Casey Matthews – Came in for Kendricks and did not perform well. Matthews looked bad in space against Richardson, giving up a 16-yard catch and run. The Eagles left Bradshaw all alone on a TD pass. Tough to tell whether he was Matthews’ guy.

Emmanuel Acho – Replaced Matthews late and played two snaps.

CORNERBACKS

Cary Williams – He played well for the most part. Williams had good coverage on the fade to Hakeem Nicks in the end zone in the first. He tackled Nicks for a 4-yard loss on a WR screen (although it was a bad throw by Luck). Williams had a special teams tackle in the second. And he tackled Richardson after a 3-yard run in the third. On the flip side, he gave up a 19-yard completion to Reggie Wayne on 3rd-and-13 in the second, but Luck had all day on the play. Williams gave up a 9-yard completion in the third on a great throw and catch; he also got called for a facemask on the play.

Bradley Fletcher – He got targeted all game long and had ups and downs. In man coverage, Fletcher gave up an 8-yard completion to T.Y. Hilton on third down in the first. Poor angle on a screen to Bradshaw that picked up 9 in the second. He gave up a 12-yard completion in the third. The Eagles did a poor job of defending the bunch look in the fourth, and Fletcher gave up a 16-yard completion. He gave up another third-down completion for 16 yards in the fourth. There were good moments too. He had good coverage on Hilton on a deep ball. Fletcher broke up a pass in man coverage in the second. He broke up a slant on third down on the same drive. Fletcher won’t have many easier interception opportunities than the one he had in the end zone in the third. But he dropped it.

Brandon Boykin – When plays go down to the wire, he always seems to be involved. On the Malcolm Jenkins interception, he could have been whistled for a penalty. Boykin was within 5 yards, so the question is not whether he contacted T.Y. Hilton, but whether he held. He was beaten by Hilton on an 11-yard completion in the third and again for a 13-yard catch in the fourth. Boykin played just 29 percent of the snaps.

Nolan Carroll II – He played just five snaps. Carroll blitzed and hit Luck as he tried to climb the pocket on third down of the final drive.

SAFETIES

Nate Allen – It looked like he was at fault on the 29-yard run in the first. Allen was the force player tasked with keeping the play inside, and he got taken out by the fullback. He later missed a tackle on a 5-yard run. Didn’t notice him one way or another in coverage.

Malcolm Jenkins – Really good game from Jenkins. He tackled Hilton on third down in the first, forcing a punt. He blew up a run play that gained 2 in the second. Jenkins stopped Richardson after a 2-yard run in the red zone in the second. Great job reading the play and batting the ball down at the line of scrimmage on third down in the third. And he came up with the huge interception in the fourth.

Chris Maragos – Did not play any defensive snaps. Threw a punch at Colt Anderson and drew a personal foul penalty in the second.