Who’s going to step up on Saturday?

Nobody really stepped up last week and made plays for the Eagles. You could argue that Brent Celek did it, but he contributed to an offense that scored zero points, so it’s hard to give him too much credit. This week has to be different. If the Eagles want to win, they need the players to step up. The question is who will it be?

Offensively, Donovan McNabb gets the obvious thumbs up. He’s been on this team the longest and can really dictate the overall success of the offensive unit. Everyone knows he didn’t bring his A game last week and that’s something that has to change. While McNabb is the easy answer, I think the entire offensive unit needs to step up this week. The line didn’t provide great coverage last week and didn’t open holes to give running backs room to run. As for the running backs, I think they will have a lot more opportunities to make plays this week and will have to step up when the opportunity presents itself. The Eagles have three viable options in the backfield (four if you include Vick) and I think each has their own style. You saw the success the Cowboys had with their tandem running backs, which are two different styles of running backs. This effort has to be emulated on Saturday night. If so, great things will happen for this crime. It was evident that no wide receiver had a spectacular day looking at the scoreboard. What the scorecard doesn’t show, however, is the high number of drops per unit. We have receivers who can make plays, but they have to catch the ball first.

Defensively, the team was taken to the woodshed early. They allowed the Cowboys to easily drive on their first drive and score. This set the momentum for the entire game and the Cowboys never looked back. The defense showed a bit of grit in the second half, but it was too late. I want to see the linebackers take a big step this week and close out the running game early. We all know the lack of blitzes that shipped out on Sunday and I hope that changes this week. Whoever bombs needs to be in Tony Romo’s face and let him know they’re going to be there all day. He won’t be surprised to see the Eagles load the box to stop the run early. Dallas used a lot of tie plays last week, so the Eagles will need to be in control when they attack. Chasing the play too much leaves you out of position to make a tackle.

Coverage definitely needs to be tighter as well. It seemed that when Tony Romo needed to drop back and complete a pass to gain a lot of yards, he could do it. Miles Austin and Jason Witten combined for 13 receptions on the day. This production must be limited much more. Those are Romo’s two main targets and you know he’s going to be looking there early and often.

The only good thing about losing last week was that it didn’t mean the season was over. That is not true this week. The Eagles need to step up their game or they better pack their bags.

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