How To Stop Dez, Miles, & Witten

Unfortunately, I think we all remember this play.

Tonight the 3-3 Dallas Cowboys will come to South Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in a Sunday night matchup.  The Cowboys bring a defense led by Rob Ryan, and an offense with a number of different weapons.

Among those offensive weapons are wide receivers Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and tight end Jason Witten.  Those are three very talented receivers to say the least.  If only the Eagles had three lockdown corners.  Oh wait, they do.  In addition to stopping Demarco Murray on the ground, the key to tonight's game will be shutting down Dallas' receivers.  How do you shut down three talented receivers?  You put your best corners on them, and you one on one take them completely out of the game.

Up until this point the Eagles have done a terrible job of playing to the strengths of their defensive backs.  Instead of utilizing Nnamdi Asomugha in one on one matchups, they have mostly sent him back in coverage where he is clearly ineffective.  Tonight the Eagles have to play more nickel and try their best to keep Nnamdi, Assante, and DRC on the field at all times.

In my opinion, Dez Bryant is a much better receiver than Miles Austin so I would have Asomugha matchup against him.  I would put Assante on Miles Austin, and as much as they can I think the Eagles should utilize DRC in the nickel and have him cover Jason Witten.  The Eagles have gotten badly burned by opposing tight ends this year.  Tony Gonzalez torched them in week 2, and Fred Davis had 95 receiving yards in week 6.  The Eagles need to take drastic measures tonight to make Witten a non-factor.

Ultimately the Eagles have the players to shut down the Cowboys offensive weapons.  Tonight it will be entirely up to the coaching staff to utilize them the right way and put them in position to make plays.