PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Philadelphia Eagles have allowed an NFL-high 12 sacks, and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg wants the blitzes to keep coming.
“We see blitzes as opportunities,” Mornhinweg said. “If they bring an extra guy, and he hits our quarterback in the face, we’ve just got to make sure our guy makes a play just before he gets hit in the face. We’ll take that every time. Make a play, get hit in the face. That’s how you score in the National Football League.”
Both starting quarterbacks – Kevin Kolb against Green Bay and Michael Vick against Detroit – have absorbed numerous jarring hits, both when they’ve been sacked and while scrambling.
Despite allowing four more sacks than any other NFL team, the Eagles rank fourth in the NFL with 27.5 points a game and eighth with an average of 366 yards.
“It’s sort of been just a little bit feast or famine there,” Mornhinweg said. “We’ve really got some big plays against the blitz and a couple last week didn’t look very good. … You have to be great against the blitz, and our mentality is when they blitz, we score. That’s the mentality you have to have, and I think we’ve got that mentality. Now we’ve just got to be more consistent there.”
This is the first time since sacks became an official stat in 1982 that the Eagles have allowed six or more sacks in each of their first two games in any season. It’s also the first time since games against San Francisco and Baltimore in 1997 that the Eagles have allowed at least six sacks in consecutive games.
No other NFL team has allowed six sacks in a game this season. The Eagles have already done it twice.
There are other reasons for the sacks, according to Mornhinweg, including missed assignments and quarterbacks turning the wrong way and running into trouble.
Veteran left guard Todd Herremans said with some of the blitzes the Eagles have seen the first two weeks, it’s simply impossible to stop everybody. So it’s up to the quarterback to deliver the ball quickly.
“Somebody is going to come through free, so you have that quick window to get it out, and he’s got to get rid of it or eat it,” Herremans said. “We’re all working together to get some solutions for that, and we have some things we can do.”
The Eagles’ offensive line has been a work in progress, with Nick Cole replacing Stacy Andrews just before the season opener at right guard, Mike McGlynn taking over at center after Jamaal Jackson sustained a season-ending torn triceps injury in the opener, and Herremans missing much of training camp with a foot injury. The Eagles also lost Pro Bowl fullback Leonard Weaver for the season to a knee injury in the opener.
“We can’t sit here and think, `All right, it will be about three or four games before we get the kinks out,”’ Herremans said. “We should be able to get the kinks out this week. That’s the way we look at it.”
Tight end Brent Celek said the large sack total isn’t necessarily a reflection of poor play along the offensive line but more a reflection of missed assignments and poor execution on the part of everybody on the offense.
“I think the line has been doing a good job,” Celek said. “I just don’t think outside people see the plays the way we see them.”
The Eagles face the Jaguars on Sunday in Vick’s second start since 2006.
No team in NFL history has allowed six or more sacks in its first three games. Even the 1986 Eagles – who allowed an NFL-record 104 sacks – allowed nine in their first two games.
“We’ve got to do better there,” Mornhinweg said. “You take out a big percentage of plays, and I think the offensive line played well. However, you just can’t do that. Those other plays are there, and we’ve got to be more consistent.”
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