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Eagles' Defense Puts Out The Stop Sign

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Johnson and the Eagles' defense has given up only four touchdowns in their last six games.

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

Jim Johnson, the usually spry 67-year-old defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, is looking every bit his age - and more. Since throwing out his back last week, Johnson has been walking a little hunched over. Even when he leans on the wooden cane he has for support, he still looks a little wobbly.

There's nothing wobbly about his defense.

Along with the resurgent play of quarterback Donovan McNabb, it's one of the main reasons the Eagles are one victory from reaching the Super Bowl. After turning it around with a 48-20 win over the Cardinals on Thanksgiving night to improve to 6-5-1, the Eagles' defense has given up only four touchdowns and allowed 14 points or fewer in each of its six games since. Philadelphia is 5-1 in those games.

"Even when we were 5-5-1 I still felt like we were one of the best teams in the league," Johnson said. "The difference is, in the last six or seven weeks, we've made a lot of great stops."

Two of the greatest came Sunday on successive fourth downs in the fourth quarter of a 23-11 win over the Giants. The Eagles stuffed quarterback Eli Manning on fourth-and-1, and the next series stopped running back Brandon Jacobs on fourth-and-2.

"I saw a lot of great play by the defensive tackles on those two plays," Johnson said of Mike Patterson and Tampa's Brodrick Bunkley, who haven't been alone in making big plays.

In two playoff wins, cornerback Asante Samuel has two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Safety Brian Dawkins has 16 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. And while end Trent Cole has a team-high 20 postseason tackles, it was middle linebacker Stewart Bradley who led the defense at New York with 11 tackles, including the big stop on Jacobs.

"I know people like to say that I like to throw the ball and coach the offensive side, but I know that you win games with defense in the NFL," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "If you don't play good defense, you struggle."

Next up for the Eagles is Sunday's NFC Championship Game at Arizona. The Cardinals, whose 27.6 points-per-game average was third-best in the league, lost to Philadelphia by four touchdowns in the November matchup.

As Reid said this week, "We didn't get their best shot."

Based on how the Eagles' defense has played lately, Arizona probably didn't get Philadelphia's best shot, either.

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

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