Lions Present Perfect Matchup For Eagles Defense

By Denny Basens, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

A year ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were demolished by the Detroit Lions in a completely pitiful, embarrassing effort on Thanksgiving day. 

Former defensive coordinator Billy Davis stood by helplessly as Matthew Stafford connected with star receiver Calvin Johnson for three touchdowns, taking advantage of the matchup on then-rookie Eric Rowe, who Davis refused to give any help. 

Stafford would finish with five touchdown passes, and the Lions dropped 45 points on over 400 yards of offense. 

Just 11 months later, many things have changed for both teams, and the matchups have now swung drastically in the Eagles' favor. 

The biggest difference is that instead of the incompetent Davis, who likely will never be seen in the NFL again, the Eagles now have former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz at the controls of the defense. 

Schwartz is very familiar with Stafford from their time together in Detroit, and runs a much more aggressive scheme than Davis, putting emphasis on the pass rush and creating turnovers.

The Birds have been one of the league's most dominant defenses over the first month of the season, allowing a total of 20 points to opposing offenses through three weeks, including just three to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. 

The Detroit offense has been erratic and inconsistent. After a good showing against the Colts in Week 1, it's been a struggle for this team to put up 20 or more points per game. They lost a low-scoring affair to the mediocre Titans. They were blown out and put up most of their points in garbage time against the Packers. And last week, they lost to the a depleted Bears team that could muster only 17 points of their own. 

Their offensive line has been shaky, allowing 10 sacks in the first four games. They'll now face a powerful Eagles pass rush that has been able to consistently generate pressure with their front-four. The Birds have 10 sacks in three games from six different players, with Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham leading the charge with three apiece. 

Schwartz's pass rush should be able to generate plenty of pressure on Stafford and force him into several mistakes. 

The Lions have adjusted to life without Calvin Johnson fairly well, and have been pleasantly surprised by the play of former Bengal Marvin Jones, but have been just as disappointed by veteran Golden Tate, who was benched against Chicago a week ago. The Eagles are expected to get veteran corner Leodis McKelvin back for the game, adding a welcome boost to the secondary. 

The Lions also don't run the ball very well. They rank 22nd in the league in rushing offense, and have already lost starter Ameer Abdullah for the season. Theo Riddick is the current starter, but his specialty is as a pass catcher out of the backfield rather than running between the tackles, and fellow reserve Dwayne Washington is also hurt. 

The Lions will lean heavily on Stafford to do a lot of passing, and that plays right into the Eagles' hands. Between the matchup of the Eagles' defensive line, and Schwartz out for revenge against the team that fired him, The table appears to be set for another strong defensive effort from the defense on Sunday.