Saints Raise Questions for Eagles' Defense

A week ago, the Eagles defense imposed their will on the Panthers, forcing seven turnovers and holding Carolina to just 169 total yards of offense in a 38-10 win.

However, if you look into that game a little deeper, you'll remember that the Panthers opened the game with a 70-yard touchdown drive.

On that drive, the Eagles could not stop the Panthers. Quarterback Jake Delhomme dissected the Eagles’ secondary.

After the Panthers' opening drive, the Eagles' defense improved significantly, but because the game was over by halftime, it was still uncertain how the Eagles’ defense would perform in pressure situations.

Against New Orleans in week two, the Saints opened the game in similar fashion as the Panthers, driving 78 yards for a touchdown.

The Eagles' defense played on their heels the whole drive, allowing Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees to go 5/5 for 53 yards and a touchdown.

This drive set a tone for the rest of the game. The Eagles' defense was unable to consistently get the enough pressure on Brees.

As a result, Brees tore through the Eagles' secondary completing 25 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns and only one interception.

The Saints’ offensive line, which was considered to be a question mark for New Orleans, stifled the Eagles defensive line.

Trent Cole was held to just two tackles and one sack. The rest of the line had little success as well, as Brees rarely ended a play on the ground.

Coming into this season, the Saints' running game was considered to be an area of uncertainty. Pierre Thomas was coming off of a mediocre season and neither Mike Bell nor Reggie Bush brought much more to the table.

However, against the Eagles, the Saints' ground game moved the ball with relative ease, rushing for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

The Eagles were unable to stop Mike Bell who averaged over five yards a carry before leaving the game with an injury in the second half.

The largest area of concern was the Eagles' inability to force the Saints into a three and out in critical situations.

Both times when the Saints' forced turnovers deep in Eagles' territory, the Eagles allowed the Saints to score with relatively no resistance, and as a result, the Saints essentially won the game four minutes into the second half.

In a game where a team is without their starting quarterback, a defense that is considered to be at such a high level has to be able to make it harder for the Saints to score.

This can be attributed to the lack of experience that the Eagles have on defense, especially at middle linebacker and free safety.

These two positions are typically the emotional leaders of a defense.

With the losses of free safety Brian Dawkins and middle linebacker Stewart Bradley, the Eagles have no one who can inspire the rest of the defense to increase their intensity when the team really needs it.

This was a game that the Eagles could have won. While it is only week two of the season, it is never good to let games get away, especially when they are against a team of the Saints' caliber.

Fortunately for the Eagles, they have an easy stretch ahead of them; hopefully they can take advantage of it.