Early in the first quarter, the Eagles had a punt blocked that the Dolphins were able to immediately turn into a touchdown and take a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on a reception from Brandon Marshall with Nnamdi Asomugha in coverage. It wasn’t the worst coverage I’ve ever seen. However, Asomugha twisted himself in a weird position before correcting that move and trying to make a play on the ball. It was a great throw and the small miscue from Asomugha allowed Marshall to score.

After that, it was quite the performance by the Eagles defense. They recorded a safety, a total of nine sacks, forced a fumble, and recorded an interception that was almost taken all the way back for a touchdown.

On a few drives, they gave up more on the ground than they would have liked to but the effort was pretty solid for the day overall.

Offensively, we got to see the return of Michael Vick. Unfortunately for Vick, his offensive line had an atrocious game. They couldn’t block at all and the Dolphins defensive line pretty much lived in the backfield.

The coaches were able to make some adjustments to get Vick throwing out of short drops and using the screen game, but it was a difficult day for Vick.

Running back LeSean McCoy didn’t put up very big numbers in terms of rushing yards, but he did find the end zone twice. DeSean Jackson also had a nice little game catching four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.

After the defense seemed to be the biggest issue, they clearly outperformed the Eagles offense today. However, it was nice to see that effort out of them and was nice to see the Eagles walk away with a win.

They will return home to host the New York Jets next weekend.

Studs

LeSean McCoy
Let’s start with the most obvious. Shady was unbelievable Sunday night, pure and simple. 30 carries, 185 yards, two touchdowns. Against the league’s best run defense through Week 7. This guy is getting better and better each week, and is the first running back to score at least one touchdown in each of his team’s first seven games of a season since Emmitt Smith in 1999.

The accolades have finally started to flow in on a nation-wide level that he has deserved since the end of his rookie season. This guy is so quick, so smart, and so fast that no one can stop him. Ask Jay Ratliff or Sean Lee. Ask Keith Brooking or DeMarcus Ware. McCoy is without question among the elite backs in this league, and it’s a pure joy to watch him week after week. He’s on his way to his first Pro Bowl berth, and if he keeps this up, will be in the thick of the MVP race if the Birds continue their turn-around.

(For those of you wondering, my list of RBs, in no particular order, is AP, Shady, Forte, Foster, and CJ if he wants to play.)

Michael Vick
Vick didn’t have his best statistical game if you look at passing or rushing yards. But, he had his best all-around football game of the season, and possibly his best since last year’s historic Redskins game. He completed 75% of his passes for 279 yards, and also added 50 yards on the ground.

He had complete command of the game from start to finish, and made pinpoint passes the entire night. I can think of only two bad passes of his 28 (intended for DeSean in the first and Schmitt in the third). Almost every other pass was exactly where it had to be.

Also, I must note his great use of audibles and protection changes at the line throughout the game. His audible to a WR screen led to Maclin’s touchdown in the first, and another one led to McCoy’s second touchdown in the fourth. If this is Mike Vick finally putting it all together mentally, the league better watch out.

The Entire O-Line
Absolutely the best game by an Eagles offensive line since the days of Thomas and Runyan. They were absolutely mauling the ‘Boys’ d-line all night, and were a huge reason for Shady’s big night and Vick’s high completion percentage. They were great in run blocking, great in pass protection, and just played an all-around phenomenal game.

The unit was definitely led by the return of Jason Peters, who, since he came back from his knee injury last year, has been one of the best tackles in the NFL. His block on Maclin’s touchdown was beautiful to watch. Marty also had him pulling a lot on handoffs, and he was responsible for sealing weak side blockers countless times to provide a huge hole for McCoy.

Also, the insertion of Watkins into the lineup against the Bills has paid off huge dividends. He was pretty good against the Bills, but has been a monster since then.

I know, I know, Ware had four sacks. Well, first off, the dude is a flat out stud. He’s going to get his every single game. But second, the more I watch, the more I’m impressed with Herremans’ work on him all night. He was left one-on-one a lot more than most tackles are (according to my memory of watching other Cowboys games. I admittedly have no stats to back this up.), and he did a very good job.

If this unit continues to play like this, which I believe they can, then Shady and Vick should pick apart any defense outside of the ’85 Bears.

P.S. One more thing to keep in mind: this was the first time that Herremans, Watkins, Kelce, Mathis, and Peters have ever played together. Just sayin’.

The Entire D-Line
They absolutely harassed and annoyed Tony Romo all night. He was battered, bruised, and hit constantly. And it showed that the pressure got to him, because even when he had time, he was nervous and rushed with his reads and throws. Granted, this writer doesn’t think too highly of Romo to begin with, and attributes a lot of that to his lack of overall QB skills, but let’s not worry about that right now.

The return of Trent Cole really solidified the d-line rotation, as he just makes everyone on the line that much better. He’s phenomenal. Babin continues to be a pass-rushing beast on the other side, and notched another two sacks on Sunday night. We, just like many others, have previously discussed his shortcomings against the run, and you can’t just ignore them. But, he was signed to get to the QB, and he’s been tremendous at that all year.

Jenkins and Patterson continue to play well, with Laws, Hunt, Parker, and Tapp providing solid depth for the Birds. This has been their strongest unit all season, and it looks like that will continue.

Brent Celek
Finally, needed to mention Celek’s fantastic game. His best game in a long time. Also, the o-line playing so well allowed Celek to run more routes, which just opens up another weapon for 7 and this offense. He can be a very dangerous weapon in the red zone, and if he has resurfaced in the passing game, maybe the Eagles’ much-coveted red zone target has been wearing the #87 jersey all along.

Duds

Kurt Coleman?
Because I need at least one dud, I guess I’ll pick Coleman for the lone fact that he got beat on the 70-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Robinson. I actually thought he played pretty well for the second straight week. Admittedly, though, he and Nate Allen really didn’t have to do too much with the d-line harassing Romo all night and the corners playing their best game of the year.

Although the defense has struggled in all aspects, the most glaring has been their run defense. They made some adjustments going into the Redskins game and only gave up 42 yards on the ground, but they’re yet to show that they can stop the run on a consistent basis.

Come Sunday night against the Cowboys, the Eagles run defense will definitely be tested.

In case you missed it, the Cowboys had a large amount of success running the ball this week against the Rams. Rookie running back DeMarco Murray had an absolutely phenomenal game, rushing for over 250 yards.

With the success they had with Murray and the fact that the Eagles have struggled against the run, you can expect the Cowboys to test the Eagles run defense early.

The real question will be which run defense shows up for the Eagles. They took advantage of a beat up Redskins offensive line. Can they have the same type of success against the Cowboys? Will the defense tackle better than they have the majority of the season? They’ll need to if they want to slow down Murray.

As I also mentioned, the Eagles defense has struggled just about everywhere. The first objective will be to shut down the run. Doing so successfully will help, but it’s far from being the only thing that needs to get done.

The Cowboys have two monster receivers in Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, and also have one of the better tight ends in the league, Jason Witten.

Matching up with a team that has receivers like the Cowboys do is a large reason why the Eagles went out and got Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. However, we’ve seen that you need to do more than simply add talent. You need to make sure you utilize that talent to the best of its ability.

Andy Reid and Juan Castillo will need to come up with a solid game plan in order to slow down the Cowboys offense. Can you trust any of your linebackers to cover Witten? Will they throw Asomugha his way?

Coming off the bye week, the coaching staff has had plenty of time to think about how they want to go about this. There should be no excuse for not putting together a solid game plan.

At the same time, the players are also responsible for executing that game plan. We’ve seen key players not step up and make key plays. Against the Cowboys offense, everyone on defense needs to execute.

Despite bringing in a lot of names this offseason, this defense is yet to show us they can play at a high level. The matchup with the Cowboys is a great opportunity to do that. It’s time for the defense to step up and make a statement.

Jason Peters
Peters was a beast on Sunday night, pure and simple. He owned Ray Edwards all night. He got downfield in the passing game, including Maclin’s 35-yard touchdown catch where he paved the way with a great block. He dominated in the run game as well, consistently giving McCoy lanes to run to on the left side. Overall, definitely one of his best games as an Eagle. The biggest reason the offensive line gave up zero sacks this week was Peters’ play against Edwards, although Herremans did a great job on Anderson as well, allowing him only one tackle. Chris Collinsworth’s man crush was out for everyone to see Sunday night, and on this night, he was justified.

Trent Cole
Cole was the best player on either team all night. He was an absolute monster in both pass rush, with a sack and constant hits on Matt Ryan all night, and against the run, where he had 5 more tackles. He was a huge reason the Eagles were able to hold Michael Turner to 3.4 yards per carry until he broke that 61-yarder in the 4th quarter. Even from the wide-9 technique, Cole was able to read the handoffs and find a way to clog up the middle of the field for most of the night. He’s well on his way to another Pro Bowl appearance, as Jim Washburn’s constant rotation seems to be keeping him fresh.

Jeremy Maclin
Good to see J-Mac in the “studs” category after a rare appearance in the “duds” list last week. His 13 catches were 3rd in Eagles history for a single game, and his 171 yards and 2 touchdowns seemed to come easily. He seems to have reclaimed his spot as Vick’s favorite target, which is great news going forward. Vick completed 8 passes to Maclin for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns before his injury. He looks healthy, focused, and ready to take that next step as a wideout. It seems that last week’s rare off week was just an aberration, and hopefully we’ll be seeing much more of this week’s Maclin as the season goes along.

LeSean McCoy
Once again, Shady is in the “studs” category after carrying the ball 18 times for 95 yards and a TD. You guys should get used to seeing him here, because he’s another guy who seems like he’s ready to take a huge leap into the spotlight on this team. He’s quick, elusive, agile, has great vision, and can even be powerful when he wants to. McCoy also chipped in with 4 catches for 21 yards. He is averaging 6.6 yards per carry through the first two weeks of the season, after averaging 5.2 yards last year. He should have been a Pro Bowler last year, in my humble opinion, and he’ll make up for that with a huge season this year. Look for even better things ahead for the former 2nd round pick.

Duds

The Red Zone D
I’m lumping them all together on this one, because absolutely no one did their job when it counted in the Red Zone. The Falcons scored 5 touchdowns on 5 trips inside the 20, accounting for all 35 points. Overall, the defense did a very good job containing both Ryan and Turner. But, once they crossed the 20, it was like they forgot how to cover or tackle. Now, I understand that they were given awful field position three times (Vick’s fumble, Vick’s INT, and the poor 1st quarter punt return coverage). With that said, the defense’s job at that point isn’t even to stop them from scoring, but to just hold the opponent to a field goal at least one of those times. They didn’t get the job done on any of them, and 4 points was the difference in the game. This needs to get better for the Eagles to be able to get where they want as a team, which is Indianapolis in February. I know there are a lot of new players in a new system and they didn’t have a normal offseason. But, to be blunt, they just have to do a better job than they did on Sunday night.

The Linebackers
We heard about them throughout training camp, and the whispers have become screams through the first two weeks of the season. They got eaten alive by Tony Gonzalez, who in most defenses, was covered by a LB. They actually did a fairly nice job on Michael Turney for most of the game, but the 61-yarder in the 4th was the play of the game for the Falcons and cannot just be thrown out. Matthews couldn’t shed his block on that play, and it left a gaping hole in the middle that I could have run through. I understand that there is no quick fix here, as the Eagles just don’t have anyone to replace the three they’re already using. These are the best three LBs they have, and it sounds like it’s who they are going to stick with. I’m not going to rag on the Eagles for not fixing this in the offseason, as that would be beating a dead horse (and also would seem like I was complaining about their offseason run on free agency, which I definitely am not). But, you can’t help but wonder if they are playing a little out of position. Wouldn’t moving the bigger Jamar Chaney back to his favorite position, MLB, to help with the run make sense? Then moving the smaller, quicker Casey Matthews out to strong side to help defend the tight ends that they have struggled so mightily with? I know Andy and his staff know way, way, way more about football than I do. And with their track record, it’s tough to question them. Just wondering
out loud.

Jarrad Page
Page looked completely lost on almost every play. After the preseason and week 1 win, I was actually cautiously high on Page. I have always believed Nate Allen is the superior safety, but with his knee still not completely healed, Page seemed better than just a fill-in until Allen was ready in the second half of the season. He played tough and smart for most of his time on the field before Sunday night. But on Sunday, the Falcons just picked on him. They didn’t want to throw at the corners (smart move), so they decided to attack down the middle with Tony Gonzalez. I already mentioned the linebackers’ role in covering tight ends, and the safeties need to do their part as well. The middle is where the Eagles will be attacked this year, whether it’s by throwing or running, as that is where their weakness lies. For them to get better against the tight ends that they have struggled with for the past year-plus, they can’t have many games from Page like he put out on Sunday. Page needs to show improvement or Allen needs to get healthy. Either way, it better happen quickly.

To start off, you have five guys who will most certainly make it in Trent Cole, Jason Babin, Mike Patterson, Antonio Dixon, and Cullen Jenkins, but after that there is heavy competition to get those last few spots.

The assumption is that the Eagles will keep at least four defensive ends, so along with Babin and Cole, guys like Daniel Te’o Nesheim, Philip Hunt, Jaqua Parker, and Daryl Tapp are battling it out in the trenches.  The most likely to make it is Daryl Tapp, as this system suits him well.  He also impressed last year and has played at a high level this pre season.

The Eagles will probably keep four real defensive ends, since guys like Cullen Jenkins and Anthony Hargrove are versatile enough to play the position if need be.  Therefore, the last guy to make it should be Philip Hunt due to talent and cap reasons.  Jaqua Parker has played well in this city, but is pretty expensive and old to be a guy that doesn’t play every down.

Philip Hunt has shown great upside in the CFL after being the rookie of the year and leading the league in sacks.  Also, the Eagles gave a shot to Daniel T’eo Nesheim with him being the third round pick, but he hasn’t demonstrated enough talent to carry on with this team.

With the Eagles keeping four defensive ends, this allows the team to keep three tackles along with Jenkins, Patterson, and Dixon.

There is a tricky situation with Trevor Laws.  He had supposedly come into camp this year stronger, faster, quicker, and better than ever before, but he has been out with foot and hamstring injuries all camp.  If he is put on the PUP list, he can join the team when he is healthy, but until then the team might keep Anthony Hargrove, Derek Landri, and an extra end in T’eo Nesheim.  If he starts the seaon on the 53 man roster, expect it to be him, Hargrove and Landri.

To recap, the Eagles will keep 10 defensive lineman, most likelybeing Trent Cole, Jason Babin, Mike Patterson, Antonio Dixon, Trevor Laws, Cullen Jenkins, Philip Hunt, Anthony Hargrove, Daryl Tapp, and Derek Landri.

Sounds great, right?

If only the game played out on paper.

The 2010 season started off very strong for the defensive line but they ended the season with an inaudible whimper.

Defensive End – That guy who I previously mentioned as being someone teams needed to double team was Trent Cole. Cole, yet again, lead the team in sacks, with 10. That’s not a bad number by any means. However, over the course of the last eight weeks of the season he recorded a measly two sacks. That is awful. Much of that is due to the fact that he is consistently getting double teamed.

The starter opposite of Cole at the beginning of the season was rookie Brandon Graham. For reasons I’m not quite sure of, people are very down on Graham after his rookie campaign which was cut short by an ACL tear. Graham put together three sacks and two forced fumbles before the injury. Understand that for a rookie defensive end, those numbers are very good. What the numbers don’t tell is how often he was getting in the backfield. Graham was consistently pressuring quarterbacks and that forced them into some poor throws that resulted in interceptions. It’s no coincidence that after Graham got hurt the pressure, sacks, and interceptions were down.

Juqua Parker is a valuable asset to this team. He can provide solid tackling in run support and can get after the quarterback if he’s used right. There’s the trick. He has to be used right. Parker is by no means a three-down end. He must be used sparingly in games. Unfortunately, injuries forced the Eagles’ hand and Parker again had to return as a starter. As was the usual, he started off the season very hot and tapered off by midseason.

Behind those three were Darryl Tapp and Daniel Te’o-Nesheim. Tapp showed some solid flashes at times and forced a few key sacks in certain games. Te’o-Nesheim, the third round draft pick out of Washington, was nothing short of a disappointment this season. He rarely reached the field as it was and when he did he got pushed around like a rag doll. I’m never going to write someone off after one year but he certainly looked nothing short of lost out on the field.

Defensive Tackle – In 2004 the Eagles drafted Mike Patterson. In 2005 they drafted Brodrick Bunkley. Both were supposed to anchor this defensive line for years. One, Patterson, has been a good player in his time here. He has consistently been one of the team’s best run stuffers and can collapse the pocket at times. In 2010 Patterson had 37 tackles and two sacks, numbers which are generally pretty good for a defensive tackle in a 4-3 scheme.

The other, Bunkley, has been a disappointed and the 2010 season was no exception. He gets shoved around and rarely finds himself in the backfield. Bunkley only started five games and much of that was due to an elbow hyperextension that he suffered during the game against the 49ers in Week 5. In clean up duty, he was fine and made some plays in run support. However, he’s yet to show the pass rush ability that he showed off at Florida State.

In his place was Antonio Dixon, one of the bright spots of the defensive front last season. The second year man out of Miami started every game after Bunkley got injured, except for the season finale against the Cowboys. Over the course of those 10 starts he amassed 29 tackles and two sacks. What the numbers don’t show is how pivotal he was in collapsing the pocket. He did what Bunkley never could which was take pressure off of Patterson and make plays in the backfield. While his play, along with the rest of the defensive line, faded towards the end of the season, he still provided one of the few sparks on the defense in 2010.

Trevor Laws, the fourth defensive tackle, has never lived up to his second round pick status. However, in his third season, he put together some quality stuff. After a ridiculously impressive training camp he was able to help the Eagles by sacking opposing quarterbacks four times in reserve duty. To put that into perspective, the rest of the Eagles defensive tackles had a combined total of four sacks. Laws, while not a starter, certainly has a place on this roster.

2011 Outlook
The Eagles have already begun making moves to improve a unit that has tons of potential, but has yet to show it on the field. The biggest move of the offseason so far has been the firing of defensive line coach Rory Segrest (someone I was never fond of) and the hiring of Jim Washburn. Washburn had been the defensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans since 1999 and is widely regarded as one of, if not the, best defensive line coaches in the league.

The hiring of Washburn could lead to some very interesting free agent or trade acquisitions. Free agent to be Jason Babin, a former Eagle, credits his growth into a Pro Bowl defensive end to Washburn. Even more intriguing is the possibility of the Eagles getting defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Washburn was his coach when he was an unstoppable force in Tennessee and Haynesworth has openly stated that he’d take less money to play for Washburn and the Eagles.

I don’t see the Eagles going after any defensive linemen early in the 2011 draft because they have so many needs. However, after watching the Senior Bowl, Phil Taylor from Baylor is a guy to keep an eye on.

Transactions aside, the biggest thing that the defensive line needs is a healthy Brandon Graham. As he goes, so will the defensive line in 2011.

The Eagles defense had it’s fair share of problems this year, and whoever ends up getting the job will have plenty of work to do. With the changes that need to made, it leads to questioning whether or not the Eagles will look to change their scheme defensively.

The short answer would clearly be no. This has been a 4-3 style defense for a long time, and although there has been talk about at least showing 3-4 sets here and there, it really hasn’t progressed into anything.

However, if the Eagles were to bring in a candidate who has had experience in running a 3-4 defense, would the Eagles possibly think about making the switch? Four out of the five teams who finished the 2010 regular season in overall defense currently run a 3-4 defense.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that making a switch would solve all the Eagles’ problems, but if you look around the league at teams known for defense (Ravens, Steelers, Jets), they’re all teams running the 3-4 scheme.

So why don’t the Eagles do it? Well, you have to look at the personnel that the team has. The first key of the 3-4 is having a big old nose tackle you can stick in the middle of the line. We saw a lot of success out of Antonio Dixon in the middle this season and he would probably be the likely candidate to jump in the middle, with Mike Patterson backing him up.

Defenses that run the 3-4 typically surround their nose tackle with larger defensive ends. The Eagles don’t exactly have a boatload of prospects for this. Typically, the Eagles have looked to smaller, high-motor ends to run out of their 4-3 scheme. This would put Trent Cole and Brandon Graham in an odd position.

One thing that the Eagles seem to do is draft smaller, speedier linebackers who could potentially line up on the outside of a 3-4 defense. I don’t think the Eagles have a 3-4 blitzing linebacker like Clay Matthews, but those players don’t come along everyday.

Am I just dreaming here, because I’m a fan of the 3-4 defense? Quite possibly, yes. However, it’s clear that the Eagles defense needs to make some serious changes.

Both teams look different then they did the first time, and both teams have faced a lot of adversity with injuries this season.

This week I spoke with Brian again, and talked with him about Sunday’s matchup. I asked him what differences will see out of the Packers this time around as well as asking him what role we’d see Clay Matthews play during the game. Brian also weighed in on where both teams will have an advantage on Sunday and gave us an interesting x-factor to watch.

In the end, Brian gives us his final prediction on the outcome of the game.

BirdsFan: It’s been a long time since the Packers and Eagles played this season. What are the biggest differences between the Packers in Week 1 and the Packers now?

CheeseHeadTV: The biggest difference is that the Packers have been decimated by injuries with 15 total players on injured reserve including many starters. On offense, running back Ryan Grant and tight end Jermichael Finely were the biggest losses. On defense, the Packers have been without the services of linebacker Nick Barnett, safety Morgan Burnett among others. Head coach Mike McCarthy stated on Monday that the team has lost 193 starts due to injury this season.

BF: Are there any worries in Green Bay right now about the Packers being gassed from making their run into the playoffs and having a letdown game this week?

CHTV: There’s always the possibility they suffer a letdown, but I don’t think anyone’s worried about it. The team seems to be upbeat about playing their best football late in the season after winning two pseudo-playoff games in must-win situations back-to-back weeks against the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The biggest difference is those games were at home for the Packers, and now they most travel to hostile territory.

BF: In your eyes, where do you see the biggest differences in the Eagles from the first time the two teams met?

CHTV: I think most people would agree that the biggest difference is preparing to play an entire game against Mike Vick. Heading into the season opener, Kevin Kolb was the unquestioned starter, and it took an injury for Vick to completely take over in that particular game. Vick has played like the league’s MVP this season and deserves that honor. He’s changed the way the Eagles operate in a positive fashion.

BF: The Packers haven’t showed a lot of commitment to the run as of late. Should the Eagles defense expect to see a one-dimensional attack from the Packers offense?

CHTV: In a close loss on the road to New England in Week 15 and a win at home against the Giants in Week 16, the Packers had just enough success on the ground to make opponents respect their ground game, which in turn, allowed the Packers to have some success with their play action passing game. Granted, the Packers rushing attack is not great, but in can be effective in regards to setting up the pass. If the Packers don’t have early success with the run, however, they can sometimes abandon it.

BF: When the Packers are on defense, how do you expect them to play Michael Vick. Could we see Clay Matthews spying him throughout the game?

CHTV: This past week, linebacker Erik Walden did some spying on Jay Cutler from an insider linebacker’s spot. I don’t think Matthews will do any spying because they’ll need him to put a rush on Vick. The Packers have supreme confidence in their corners to handle opposing receivers, which should allow the Packers to commit other players to stopping Vick including blitzing Charles Woodson from the slot.

BF: On Sunday, where will the Packers have an advantage on offense? On defense?

CHTV: The Packers wide receiver quartet of Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones and Jordy Nelson is as dangerous as they come. Stop one of them and another will make you pay. On defense, it may sound weird, but the Packers should have an advantage with defensive coordinator Dom Capers. Somehow, someway, he always figure out a way to stop opposing offenses.

BF: Where will the Eagles have an advantage on offense? On defense?

CHTV: Vick is the advantage of offense. If he can can find some open running room, he could really create some damage, especially at the second level. The Packers inside linebackers don’t have a chance at tacking him down. Not many do. On defense, Trent Cole could regain his pass rushing touch. Green Bay offensive tackles Chad Clifton and Bryan Bulaga have been prone to breakdowns this season.

BF: What player could be a potential x-factor for the Packers on Sunday?

CHTV: The X-factor could be punter Tim Masthay who did a fantastic job neutralizing prolific return specialist Devin Hester a week ago by placing four punts inside the 20.

BF: Give me a score prediction.

CHTV: Packers win 24-20.

Gus provides some good insight on what’s been going on with his team as he discusses the difference between the team this season and last season. We also touch on the much talked about coaching change and how that’s affected the locker room and on the field production.

To wrap things up we both give a prediction of what will occur during the game.

You can follow Gus on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OuttaHerrrrreee.

The Eagles defense gave up way too many big plays and failed to shut down the Bears offense when they really needed to. They allowed Jay Cutler to throw all over them and allowed Matt Forte to run all over them.

Today I take a closer look at the game and nominate the Eagles I thought were studs and duds.

Studs
LeSean McCoy – Week in and week out, this guy has been an absolute stud. I’d love to see him get more carries on a regular basis, but I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with how often the Eagles run the football.

Against the Bears, McCoy had 10 carries for 53 yards and also recorded eight receptions for 67 yards.

In addition to his production with the ball in his hands, he is really developing into a a great all-around back. His blocking last season was not very good, but he has really stepped it up this year. They don’t ask him to stay in and block a lot, but he has done a great job when asked to do so.

On one play against the Bears, a blitzing Brian Urlacher came running in untouched, and McCoy stepped up and put a great block on him. This kind of thing doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it’s definitely something that will be noticed in film study.

Jason Avant – As always, Avant lives in the shadow of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. However, he continues to show us that he may very well be the best third receiver in the NFL.

Against the Bears, Avant led the team in both catches and yards as he recorded eight receptions for 83 yards.

He probably won’t be on the end of any home-run balls from Michael Vick anytime soon, but he will consistently be that guy who goes across the middle and catches footballs.

With all the attention teams will have on Jackson and Maclin, having a guy like Avant is very important.

Trent Cole – Coming into the game, Jay Cutler had been sacked more then any other quarterback in the league. The Eagles knew this and expected to be able to get to Cutler early and often.

Cole failed to disappoint as he recorded two sacks on the day. As usual, he saw a lot of double teams, but was able to fight the entire game and be a menace coming off the edge.

Whenever you hear people talk about Cole, they always talk about him being a “high motor” guy. He continues to live up to this branding. No matter what the opposing offense throws at him, he doesn’t quit.

David Akers – You hate to have your kicker listed as a stud, but Akers did everything that was asked of him against the Bears.

On the day, Akers recorded four field goals on four attempts. He made field goals from 45, 22, and 36 yards twice.

One of the biggest downfalls for the Eagles against the Bears was the lack of touchdowns scored in the red zone. You don’t want to see them having to settle for field goals.

However, it’s nice to know that you have a guy like Akers that can be relied upon to come in and consistently make kicks.

Duds
Trevard Lindley – In the absence of Asante Samuel, Lindley saw a lot of action against the Bears. He wasn’t the starter but was on the field a lot in the nickel package.

When Lindley took the field, Cutler tended to look his way. In most situations, Lindley was giving a large cushion and the Bears took full advantage of that. The Bears receivers ran a lot of quick slants that would put the ball in their hands faster than Lindley could close.

He’s only a rookie and he’s going to learn, but it wasn’t a very impressive performance for him. I would have liked to see him adjust and start getting more physical with the Bears receivers.

Stewart Bradley – I felt like Bradley was starting to pick his game up over the last few weeks, but I wasn’t very happy with the way he played against the Bears.

Anytime that an opposing running back has over 100 yards rushing, you have to look at the middle linebacker position. Bradley failed to do his part in shutting down the Bears rushing attack and also did a poor job tackling.

Missing a tackle can be the difference between a short gain and a big play and this happened to Bradley and the Eagles on Sunday. You don’t expect your middle linebacker to miss tackles, and you shouldn’t have to.

DeSean Jackson – Everyone knows about the brutal hit that Jackson took earlier this season against the Falcons. However, I thought it was behind him.

Against the Bears, Vick threw a ball to Jackson that should have been a touchdown but Jackson felt like a big hit was going to be delivered so he backed off of it. In a game like that, you can’t afford to make mental mistakes like that.

Jackson only had two receptions against the Bears for 26 yards. These aren’t the kind of numbers you like to see out of your number one receiver, but I understand that he’s not going to have a 100 yard receiving game every week.

In the end, your number one guy has to make a play when called upon. Jackson failed to do that this week.

Special Teams – The coverage units this week were absolutely terrible. In a tough game like this one, special teams can have a huge impact.

The Bears have talented return men, and the Eagles let them run wild on Sunday. They needed someone to step up and make a play, but it just wasn’t happening.

Field position has a big impact on a game, and the special teams unit gave up too much yardage on the day.