Jay Gruden on how to attack the Vikings and Eagles defenses...

[Wetlander]

http://www.espn.com/blog/washington-reds...s-defenses
EaglesWhat makes them good: “The addition of Tim Jernigan has been a huge help with Fletcher Cox. Those two are tough to deal with in both the run and pass game, very similar to the Vikings. Brandon Graham beats the s--- out of tight ends, and they have three good linebackers, too. Jenkins is the guy who’s a pain in the ass. He plays nickel great as a run-defender and as a safety in their base. He’s a great run-defender. How do you account for him? With a receiver or by pushing the line? If you push the line, then you have bad angles on Cox and Jernigan.
"If you receiver block, you’d better have a stout receiver to come in and do that because he makes life miserable. In the pass game, Cox inside and Graham and those guys can rush. They have a good blitz package to keep you honest, and their corners play good in man-to-man. Darby did not play against us. Mills was the corner against us and Rasul Douglas. There are chances to take shots against their corners, but they mix up coverages, and the middle safety can cover a lot of ground.”

Strategy: “The best way to attack them on the ground is to run inside. Outside, it’s hard because they force everything back inside, and that’s when Jernigan and Fletcher can make their plays and the backside defenders can track you down. Inside zone is easier because they play the wide nine from time to time. But you still have to get Cox and Jernigan blocked -- easier said than done. Then you get to the next level, and Nigel Bradham is really good. We tried to get Chris Thompson on Braham, and he was always good against Chris. The matchup we tried to feature when Jordan Reed plays is to get him on Jenkins, but he’s really good.
“Malcolm can play nickel and cover receivers when you want. The quarterback and center have to know if he’s in nickel. It makes a big difference. If he’s in nickel, you want to account for him at the line, and if he’s at safety, you want to account for him with a receiver.
“They’ve got three or four pass-rushers off the edge that can beat you, and they keep them fresh and rotate them in and out. They have the rookie, Derek Barnett, and Chris Long to help rush. [The Eagles] can hit you inside and outside with all their pass-rushers. They do a good job changing coverages so you can’t just work a side. You try to work the corners because Malcolm is such a good safety. You have to get them in formations where they have to communicate and get them in bunch looks and mix up the releases to get them confused or get them to check to zone drops and then attack the zones.”

[Guest]

Really good article...  I found it interesting to hear from an opposing coach where they thought each team was strong on defense and how they attacked their perceived weaknesses.
The bolded parts above give me confidence we can make some plays on the Eagles defense.  Sticky, you wanted a good reason why Treadwell is on the team...  well, he has the strength and toughness to keep Malcom Jenkins from shutting down the run game.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him out snap Jarius this week because of his ability to down block on LBers and man handle guys in the secondary.  That is his role this season with Diggs and Thielen being the premiere options in the passing game.  Takes a lot of humility for a guy like Treadwell to accept that type of role considering he was a star in college and a first round pick.
The other bolded parts are things this offense does well...  bunch formations, Thielen and Diggs are masters at finding soft spots in zones, and I am expecting more McKinnon in the screen game to slow down their pass rush.

[Guest]

I hope Shurmer still wants to earn his Viking paycheck knowing he's now a short timer with the team.  This will be his toughest test we've seen all season, and I expect a low scoring grind of a game.  Pat will have his work cutout for him.

[Guest]

That was a great read. Very informative. Two very good defenses going head to head. I like our offense more because Keenum is better than Foles and our corners match up a little better with their receivers than theirs do against ours. Plus, there's a little bit of encouragement that comes from playing so poorly on defense last week. Especially seeing Rhodes get beat. I have a hard time seeing that happening two weeks in a row.

Refreshing to hear (or read, I guess) Gruden talk. Talks like my old secondary coach. It wasn't "you have to get up tight and press this man." It was "you have to punch him in the mouth" or "kick his ass." LOL

[Guest]

inside zone, if you can beat cox (which will be VERY hard) but then also their DBs are terrible against double moves (which our WRs are masterful) but can our OL hold up long enough? if we had cook for this game I would give us an 80-90% chance. His game is this inside zone and did you see our OL open holes VS the staints!?!? ughghgh how were we not ripping of 40 yard runs every play????
if our RBs can get a little room to start and then case can but a few deep passes off of PA, I know our D can destroy Foles. The only thing that scares me is our D's worst games (all over 25 ppg except vs GB) are on slippery grass - just like we will be playing in Philly.

[Guest]

The Seahawks and Giants wrote the book on how to beat the Eagles defense. After watching those two games plus the Falcons divisional matchup I have no clue how Steve Sarkisian still has a job.

In the passing game you best friend between the 20's are rub routes. The Eagles will play a lot of man to let Jenkins and McCloud roam the back-end. The issue is that they keep their LB's closer to the LOS than most teams and if a DB gets rubbed off their route its an easy completion over the middle. The Seahawks and Giants did this again and again to the Eagles defense and although the Falcons didn't attack it, they didn't fix it either. When you get into the red zone the Eagles play a lot of cover-3 zone. Against that you need to be willing to take your check down beneath the LB's or be aggressive attacking both seams. McCloud will sit in the middle of the field, but you need him to make a decision. If you only are going to attack a single seam he'll make you pay. Everyone is talking up the DB's vulnerability to double-moves and that is an option too. But those really comes down to weather. 

The run game is what really doesn't have a major weakness. I disagree with Gruden a bit and think they can be vulnerable on the outside to speed. Tevin Coleman had a lot of success on the edge since he would out run the LB's pursuit angles. Freeman had a harder time doing anything between the tackles since Cox and Jernigan clean up. If you think the Vikings are going to be able to get interior push, it may be a pipe dream. Alex Mack is one of the NFL's better interior O-lineman and couldn't get anything going consistently. But with all things treated equal, a balanced run game even if it only gets you 2-3 YPC will keep them honest against PA. Staying away from the negative plays on the ground is the key. 

Overall, if the Vikings end up copying the Seahawks/Giants game plan they should be able to move the ball on Philly. But at that point it becomes a game of red zone execution. TD's are a must in this game.