Sunday, January 9, 2011

Eagles can win through McCoy

The best way for the Eagles to win today is through their second year running back LeSean(Shady) McCoy.  NFL.com ran a good analysis of the game focusing on the Packers defense and what the Eagles can do to do combat it.  The analysts showed that the Packers will probably do what the Vikings did to the Eagles a few weeks back.  They'll bring a corner like Charles Woodson towards the line of scrimmage and use him to blitz Michael Vick(Vick ran for over a 100 yards in their first meeting of the season in which the Eagles settled for a loss).  To combat this, the Eagles will need to use McCoy as a runner out of the back field.

Shady McCoy ranks 14th in rushing among running backs in the league.  His rushing totals are a little deceiving and one needs to take into account the fact that the Eagles are a passing offense.  He has carried the ball 207 times for a total of 1,080 yards.  Rushing leader Arian Foster has carried the ball 327 times for 1,616 yards.  McCoy's 5.2 average per carry is among league leaders.

If the Eagles take advantage of their jewel, they can stave off the aggressive Packers defense.  Draw plays up the middle should be effective when the Packers bring pressure from the outside.  When the Eagles show them that they will run first, this will open up opportunities for play action and deep balls to Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson. 

This is not the easiest playoff game for the NFC East champs.  The Packers have an excellent defense and can put up a lot of points(they scored almost 400 points this season).  The Eagles can pull out a win using the legs of McCoy.  It's up to Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg.  Their game plan will decide their fate (statistics courtesy of NFL.com).

JL 

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