Under Review: Eagles' defense is soft

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In football, coaches lie but the tape never lies.

A coach can say things arent that bad, that the players are still giving a great effort and there is no reason to be discouraged. But the tape will tell you the truth.

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger and I watch the tape of every Eagles game. This is the coachs tape, not the TV feed, so it shows the entire field. There are two anglesone from press box, one from the end zoneon every play.

You see the coverage, the pass routes, the blocking schemes. You see every breakdown and every missed assignment. If a player is loafing away from the ball, you see that, too. There is nowhere to hide.

It is always enlightening. Sometimes you watch the tape of a loss and find some positive things, things a team can build around. Other times you watch the tape, shake your head and say, This is worse than I thought.

Watching the tape of the 24-23 loss to San Francisco was one of those times. As bad as it looked on Sunday, it looked worse Tuesday night as Baldinger sat with his clicker going back and forth, noting every missed block, every bad decision and every weak effort.

This is horrible, Baldinger said. (The Eagles) arent tackling, they arent blocking, they arent hitting anybody. I dont know why theyre even wearing pads because theyre not playing football.

There were dozens of assorted screwupsyes, the Ronnie Brown goal line fumble was one for the agesbut we found two plays that sent a truly disturbing message. Chances are the fans didnt notice because it was away from the ball and off the TV screen, but it was there on the coachs tape.

Midway through the third quarter, the Eagles were leading 23-3 when Alex Smith flipped a short pass to Kendall Hunter. The 5-7 rookie turned upfield and ran for 44 yards, a huge play that set up the 49ers first touchdown and sparked their comeback.

There were several troubling aspects to the playNnamdi Asomugha again looking lost in zone coverage was one of thembut even worse was seeing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie walkingwalking!as Hunter made the catch and started to run. He was on the other side of the field, but still

When have you ever seen someone walking on a football field? Baldinger asked. This play is alive, Hunter is running and (DRC) is still walking. Now he starts to run and, OK, he catches up, but it is 40 yards down the field. Where was that speed earlier? I mean, are you in the game or arent you?

Three minutes later, the Eagles again were caught in a bad defense. The 49ers put wide receiver Michael Crabtree in motion, knowing it would force the Eagles to invert their coverage. Safety Jarrad Page moved up and Asomugha dropped back. Crabtree beat Asomugha with a double move and when Page and Asomugha collided trying for the tackle, Crabtree broke away for a 38-yard gain.

It was reminiscent of the touchdown New Yorks Victor Cruz scored against the Eagles one week earlier when safety Kurt Coleman and Asomugha collided trying for the tackle. The secondary that everyone thought would be the best in the league now has allowed 10 touchdown passes in four games. No team has allowed more.

There were two things worth noting on the Crabtree play: One was the continued misuse of Asomugha. The Eagles did put Asomugha one-on-one on tight end Vernon Davis some of the time, but too often he was playing zone and looking lost.

Thats Nnamdi Asomugha and hes spinning like a top, Baldinger said. If it was anybody else, youd pull him off the field.

So that was one red flag. The other was the sight of Asante Samuel, who was playing like a safety in the middle of the field, loafing on the play. He was half-walking, half-jogging as Crabtree caught the ball.

Nnamdi and Asante arent safeties but the Eagles keep putting them in that position,
Baldinger said. They arent physical enough. There are times, especially in this defense, when they have to come downhill and hit somebody and they dont do it.

The best example was the winning touchdown, a 12-yard run by Frank Gore with 3:05 remaining. The 49ers lined up in their power formation with nose tackle Ike Sopoaga as an extra blocker. They are telling you what theyre doing, Baldinger said. Its a straight ahead run all the way.

They blew a gaping hole in the Eagles defense as no one could get off a block, another familiar theme. When Gore hit the open field, there was only one man between him and the end zone and it was Samuel.

There is no way you can let him score, Baldinger said. Three minutes to go, youre still ahead (23-17). The safety has to make this tackle. He has to get Gore on the ground right here (the five-yard line). Who knows if they get it in from there?

But instead of taking (Gore) on the way a real safety would, squaring up and putting his shoulder into him, Asante jumps on his back. I mean, whats that? Gore carries him into the end zone.

It was a play that underscored the Eagles lack of physicality. It was evident again at the end of the game when the 49ers got the ball with 2:06 to go. The Eagles had two timeouts remaining plus the two-minute warning so if they stopped the 49ers on three plays, they could have gotten the ball back with a decent amount of time still on the clock.

Instead, the defense let Gore run over them for four yards, eight yards, four yards, five yards and five yards as the clock ticked down to zero.

You know exactly what they are going to do and you cant stop them, Baldinger said. And this is the 32nd-ranked offense in football. Where is the effort? Where is the toughness? Where are the leaders?

Those are alarming questions to ask just four games into a season.

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger and Ray Didinger break down each Eagles game in Under Review every Thursday, Friday and Saturday on SportsRise and SportsNite on Comcast SportsNet.E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net.

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