Under Review: Birds should stifle Cowboys' WRs

This is the week the big shopping spree should pay off. Maybe this is what the Eagles had in mind all along.

Through the first five games, we wondered what the coaches were doing with Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel. Asomugha was playing zone. Samuel was playing inside. Rodgers-Cromartie was shuttling on and off the field. The whole thing was out of whack.

We werent sure the coaches had a viable plan for how to use the three Pro Bowl corners. It seemed as if they were still moving the pieces around from week to week in hopes of finding something that worked. But this could be the week where we say, 'Oh, now I get it.'

The Cowboys have three primary weapons in the passing game: wide receivers Miles Austin and Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten. The Eagles now can match up with three elite cover guys in Asomugha, Samuel and Rodgers-Cromartie. Maybe this is the way coach Andy Reid and general manager Howie Roseman drew it up.

Consider this plan of attack: The Eagles bring one safety down in the box to help stop the run. They put the three cover guys on the top Dallas receivers and force quarterback Tony Romo to either rush his throws or take a sack. Sounds simple but it probably would work.

The Dallas receivers arent good against press coverage. Bryant, in particular, has trouble getting off the line when he has a defender in his face. It is very noticeable in the red zone where the Cowboys try to take advantage of Bryants size (6-2, 220), but he has so much trouble defeating man coverage that Romo often winds up throwing the ball away.

For example

In Sundays game against St. Louis, the Cowboys had first-and-goal at the four. Bryant was split wide to the left. The Rams had ex-Eagle Al Harris on him in man coverage. At the snap, Bryant tried to stutter step past Harris, but Harris just stood in his way. Bryant stopped and Romos pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

Whats Bryant doing? said NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. Hes standing in one place chopping his feet. Hes accomplishing nothing. He doesnt know how to beat this coverage. Its one of the reasons Dallas has trouble in the red zone (they rank 27th in the league).

Later in the game, the Cowboys had third-and-five. They put their third receiver Laurent Robinson wide to the left. Again, Harris was in press coverage. Robinson ran an eight-yard curl but Harris was right with him. Romo threw the ball wide, out of the reach of both receiver and defender. Dallas was forced to punt.

Al Harris is a good barometer, Baldinger said. Look how much trouble the receivers are having with him and Al is basically playing on one leg. If Im the Eagles, I see this and Im putting Nnamdi one-on-one with Dez Bryant. Im putting Asante on Austin and Im putting Rodgers-Cromartie on Witten. (Joselio) Hanson can play Robinson.

If the Eagles get good coverage on those receivers, which they should, they will force Romo to hold the ball an extra second or two. That will allow (Jason) Babin, (Cullen) Jenkins and (Trent) Cole to get there. Theyll get hits on Romo and force more throws like this.

What the Eagles cannot do is play soft on the corners, which they have done in other games. When Bryant had a free release off the line against the Rams, he made the most of it. He finished with five catches for 90 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown.

(Bryant) has a lot of talent, Baldinger said. If he gets the ball, youd better get a lot of people over there fast because he gets to top speed in a hurry. The way to stop him is to not let him get going in the first place.

After watching Romo on film, Baldinger believes the quarterback is playing more conservatively. Whether it is coming down from coach Jason Garrett or Romo is doing it on his own, it appears he is not taking as many chances with the football. It is resulting in fewer mistakes, but also fewer big plays.

The Cowboys are 3-3 and in each of their losses Romo either threw a killer interception or fumbled in a critical spot. That has been his trademark throughout his career. It could be that he tired of the criticism and decided to change his ways.

Against the winless Rams, Romo completed 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards and two scores with no interceptions. The Cowboys didnt need to throw much because rookie DeMarco Murray ran the ball 25 times for 253 yards, a club record. But it was worth noting most of Romos throws were of the short, safe variety.

He is not taking the shots down the field that were used to seeing, Baldinger said, fast forwarding the tape to the third quarter. He stops on a first down play at the Rams' 33. On the play, Witten runs a seam route and gets a step on the defender. Romo sees Witten but instead of trying to make the stick throw, he holds onto the ball and takes a sack.

You can almost see (Romo) thinking, No, Tony, were winning the game (17-7), lets not take any chances, Baldinger said. The old Tony would have thrown it. He has the window (to Witten). He sees it and he can get it there, but he thinks better of it.

It will be interesting to see if this (approach) works, Baldinger said. To me, Tony is a gunslinger and I think he has to play that way to be effective. But its like hes being told, No more street football. He almost looks too cautious now.

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger and Ray Didinger break down every Eagles gameon Under Review on Sports Rise and Sports Nite every Thursday, Friday and Saturdayduring the football season.

E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net