In spite of likely not facing Aaron Rodgers Sunday, the Eagles defense will have it's hands full with the Packers backfield led by rookie Eddie Lacy. Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated
With Aaron Rodgers leaving Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears with a presumed broken collarbone, it's unlikely that he will be ready for the Green Bay Packers matchup with the Eagles Sunday and many believe the Birds are catching a break.
Don't count defensive coordinator Bill Davis as a subscriber to that theory.
"It's a high efficiency west coast offense built around the quarterback getting rid of the football," Davis told the media Tuesday at the Novacare Complex. "
Seneca Wallace came on in relief of Rodgers in the first quarter and managed just 114 yards on 11 of 19 passing in Green Bay's 27-20 week nine loss.
Even with the Packers likely turning to their backup quarterback it doesn't seem as if the Eagles defensive game plan will change very much, if any, heading into their week ten showdown at Lambeau Field.
"There really isn't much uncertainty there even with Aaron not playing," Davis said. "You always have a plan for their passing attack whether it's in a three-wide set that they typically run with Aaron [Rodgers] in there or fullback that they run with Seneca but you always have something you major in.
"They've got their share of weapons. The running backs are playing well, Jordy Nelson is playing outstanding and the quarterback that they put in there will distribute to the weapons and that's what we have to defend."
Quietly, the Eagles defense has undergone steady improvement in recent weeks. Over the last five games Davis' unit has surrendered 21 or fewer points in each game over that stretch. The only other team to accomplish that feat over that span is the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Thank God it's a scoreboard and not a yardage board after the Raiders game," Davis joked after his unit surrendered 560 yards of total offense Sunday. "I was actually a little bit shocked when I saw the yards that they got because on their designed runs, we did a great job of stopping those. It was the improvised runs and the two-minute runs that they got while we were in our pass rushing mode that really hurt us. But that quarterback is a phenomenal athlete and he got outside on us a few times.
"We're moving in the right direction, the yards aren't where we want to be but the points are where we want them to be and we're happy about that."
Against the Packers though, the challenge especially with Rodgers out, will be containing Eddie Lacy and smash mouth Green Bay backfield.
"They're running the ball really well right now," Davis said. "They're down hill, run you over type runners and we have our hands full stopping their run game on top of this high efficiency passing game that they've always had."
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
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