One Reason Philadelphia Eagles Can Defeat Each 2012 Opponent

On paper, the slate of teams for the 2012 Philadelphia Eagles looks rough.

The schedule includes seven teams who participated in last season's postseason and quarterbacks such as Drew Brees, Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Joe Flacco and Josh Freeman.

There are defenses like the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. And I didn't even mention the quarterback and defense from the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, who the Eagles will of course have to play twice.

It's not all doom and gloom for the Eagles in 2012, however. They are still talented enough to pull out victories over each of these teams.

Teams improve and others drop off the face of the Earth from season-to-season, so some of these so-called "tough games" may not be so tough by the time they roll around.

Here's one reason that the Eagles could beat each team on the 2012 schedule.

New York Giants: The Running Game

As highly touted as the Giants defense is, it struggled to stop the Eagles rushing attack in both games in 2011.

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy received 20-plus carries in both meetings and ended up with more than 100 yards in each.

The second meeting ended up in a low-scoring Eagles win. In the first meeting, the Eagles essentially beat themselves with three turnovers.

If the Eagles win that first meeting, there would have been a tie for first place in the NFC East, with the Eagles winning the tiebreaker.

Washington Redskins: Jeremy Maclin

Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin didn't have statistics last season, but he made sure to tear up the Redskins in two games.

In each of their meetings in 2011, Maclin amassed more than 100 yards receiving, both of which resulted in Philadelphia victories. Maclin recorded a combined 13 catches for 206 yards and a touchdown against the Redskins last season.

Maclin will have some help this season from a motivated DeSean Jackson. With his new contract in tow, Jackson will get back to tearing up the Redskins, something he did on Monday Night Football back in 2012 when he caught an 88-yard bomb for a touchdown.

Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys Secondary Is Not Good

The Dallas Cowboys made a few changes to its secondary by releasing veteran cornerback Terrance Newman, and for good reason.

The Cowboys finished 23rd in the NFL last season in pass defense. Opposing quarterbacks completed 61 percent of their passes against them, and they gave up passes of 20 yards or more 57 times.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick didn't throw for 300 yards against the Cowboys, but mainly because he didn't have to. The Eagles got up on the Cowboys early and trounced them, 34-7. The second meeting was a bit of a wash, but Vick still nearly threw for 300. He did throw a combined four touchdowns against the Cowboys.

Letting Newman could be addition by subtraction, or it could mean putting in a younger, more inexperienced player in the secondary to cover all of the weapons for the Eagles.

Either way, the Eagles will be looking to go vertical against Big D.

Atlanta Falcons: Lack of Identity on Offense

The Falcons have a good amount of weapons on offense, but lack an identity.

That lack of identity seriously hurt them against the Giants in the playoffs and sent them home early.

The Falcons have a good young quarterback in Matt Ryan, but tend to get a little too fancy and try too hard to be explosive with receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones.

They sometimes get away from the fact that they have one of the better running backs in the league in Michael Turner.

Turner is the reason why the Falcons handed the Eagles a loss last season in the Georgia Dome. Turner had 21 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown and was one of the many teams that had success on the ground against the Eagles.

Ryan only threw the ball 28 times, which is low by today's standards, for only 195 yards.

The Eagles have to take advantage of that lack of identity. Take away Turner early and force Ryan to beat you. That's the formula for beating the Falcons. The Giants did it and smothered the Falcons on defense.

New Orleans Saints: Lack of Defense

The New Orleans Saints can score 60 points if you let them. The problem is that their defense could easily give up 61.

The Saints are simply not good on defense. They finished 24th in total defense last season and even worse against the pass (30th).

Not to mention a possible suspension that could be handed down due to the whole "Bounty Gate" scandal. There may not be a defense left of what's already a soft defense.

Expect the Eagles to give up a good amount of points to the Saints because that offense is almost unstoppable, but the Eagles will definitely be able to keep up and even pull it out.

Carolina Panthers: Lack of Defense (Again)

As bad as the Saints defense is, the Carolina Panthers is as bad, and may be even worse.

The Panthers were 28th in total defense, 24th against the pass and 25th against the run.

As exciting as Panthers quarterback Cam Newton can be, he doesn't play offense and defense, which is part of the reason they finished 6-10 last season.

When the Eagles and the Panthers lock up, look for the Panthers defense to hurt them once again.

Baltimore Ravens: Playing at Home

If this game was played in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the Eagles would have a much tougher time with the Ravens, but since it is going to be in the comfy confines of Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles' chances only go up.

The Ravens were one of the most inconsistent and just plain odd teams from last season despite being a missed field goal away from sending the AFC Championship Game to overtime and possibly going to the Super Bowl.

The Ravens beat the Steelers, Texans and Bengals twice and the beat the 49ers on Thanksgiving—all playoff teams, mind you—but lost to the Seattle Seahawks, the Tennessee Titans, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the San Diego Chargers, none of which made the postseason.

The Ravens didn't lose a game at home, going 9-0 if you count the playoffs, but went 4-5 on the road, including the AFC title game. All of those strange losses I mentioned came on the road, away from the hostile crowd at M&T Bank Stadium.

They will face another hostile crowd in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, but of a much different variety.

Cincinnati Bengals: Doesn't Beat Elite Teams

Not to say the Eagles are an elite team, but Eagles fans would hope that they are better than their 8-8 finish from last season.

If that is the case, that does not bode well for the Bengals.

The Bengals have yet to prove themselves against an elite team from either in or outside of their division.

They lost to the Steelers, Ravens and Texans twice and feasted on weaker teams like the Cardinals, Seahawks, Colts, Bills, Jaguars, Titans and Browns.

The Bengals are a good team with a lot of young talent and not too many holes, but need to find ways to pull games out against good to great teams to make some real noise.

Detroit Lions: The Running Game (Again)

A team that was supposed to have a dominant run defense but didn't was the Detroit Lions.

With Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley anchoring the middle, the Lions were supposed to be the last team to gain 100 yards against, but that was not the case.

The Lions were a disappointing 23rd in the league against the run, and the defense overall was lackluster at best.

That sounds like music to the ears of Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who finished fourth in the league in rushing and scored a franchise-record 17 rushing touchdowns a season ago.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lack of Offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed up a solid 2010 campaign with a just horrid 2011 one and finished 4-12.

That huge of a dropoff can be contributed to a serious lack of offense. The Bucs were 21st in total offense, 16th in passing and 30th in rushing.

One way teams beat the Eagles last was to run the football. If the Bucs can't do that, they will lose to the Eagles.

If the Bucs can't stay on the field on offense, that means more time for Michael Vick and the Eagles offense to dissect a Bucs defense that finished 30th and gave up an average of 30 points per game.

Cleveland Browns: Will Not Be Able to Protect Colt McCoy

If there was one thing the Eagles did right last season, it was put pressure on the quarterback.

The Eagles defense recorded the most sacks in the league last season, along with the Minnesota Vikings, with 50.

That does not bode well for young Colt McCoy, who has talent, but is not upright long enough to showcase it.

McCoy played in 13 games because he got so banged up when he played. Browns quarterbacks were sacked 39 times last season.

Defensive ends Trent Cole and Jason Babin, who both recorded double-digit sacks a season ago, will be pinning their ears back when the Browns come up on the schedule.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Will Not Be Able to Protect Ben Roethlisberger

The Steelers also have their fair share of problems protecting the quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger can sometimes evade pressure with his elusiveness, but also has a tendency to hold the ball too long and take unnecessary sacks. 

The Steelers actually gave up more sacks than the Browns last year, with 42.

Disrupting Roethlisberger's timing is one of the major keys in stopping the Steelers, and who better to do that than the team that recorded the most sacks in the NFL last season.

Arizona Cardinals: Kevin Kolb

If Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb still has the starting job in Arizona by the time this game comes around, it will be the first time he will go up against the Eagles since being traded away before last season.

Kolb more than underwhelmed last season and will have to fight for his job back in training camp with John Skelton, who filled in admirably for him last season.

Eagles coach Andy Reid knows Kolb's strengths and weaknesses, and will fill the defense in on those while game-planning for the Cardinals.