Philadelphia Eagles Announce Colt Anderson Now Starting Safety

At the beginning of the year, third-year safety Kurt Coleman made a bold claim that the Philadelphia Eagles could have the greatest single-season defense in franchise history. 

Now, Coleman has been benched for Colt Anderson, a backup safety who is known as one of the best special teams players in the game, not for his abilities as a safety. In fact, Anderson rarely played safety before Coleman suffered a sternum injury and missed a pair of games. 

In Coleman's place, Anderson has played well, collecting 11 tackles in the two games. Against the Bengals, he allowed just one completion for three yards on four pass attempts. 

In his press conference today, head coach Andy Reid said that Anderson has earned the right to continue as the team's starter:

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AR: I think you could say that Colt Anderson has earned continuing to start.

— Eagles Insider (@EaglesInsider) December 14, 2012

 

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Anderson likely isn't a long-term option at safety considering his limited action at the position over the past few seasons. But he's better than Coleman, who was named a starter late in the 2010 season and really hasn't played well over the past two years.

Anderson will look to help the Eagles slow down the passing attack of Robert Griffin III and Eli Manning in the season's final two games. Both teams are fighting for a division title out of the NFC East.