Mike McGlynn will face his toughest test this season.


For all the great matchups that this most recent Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys showdown will feature -- DeMarcus Ware vs. Jason Peters, DeSean Jackson vs. the entire Cowboys' secondary, Jason Garrett vs. Sean McDermott, etc. -- there is one that will decide the outcome of the game, and it's not any just mentioned.

Instead, the matchup to watch will be Mike McGlynn and the guards against Jay Ratliff and the Cowboys inside linebackers.

Because the Cowboys run the 3-4, left guard Todd Herremans and whomever will be starting at right guard (Nick Cole or Max Jean-Gilles) will not have a guy directly across from them. They will be counted upon to make blocks on the second level all game long while McGlynn will be counted upon to move Ratliff.

Ratliff, although he is a nose tackle, does not play a two-gap style (meaning he attempts to control both 'A' gaps by creating a stalemate at the line) that most nose tackles play. Instead, he is usually shooting either gap in an attempt to create havoc in the backfield.

What this does is force the guard on either side to be aware of what Ratliff is doing. It's likely that both guys will crash down on Ratliff to help McGlynn move him off the line of scrimmage, then scrape off to the second level and leave the rest to McGlynn.

Because Ratliff will be shooting one gap or another, one guy won't be needed. But Eagles offensive line coach Juan Castillo will likely tell both guys to react to Ratliff first before heading to the linebacker.

If those three guys can work together, moving Ratliff should not be an issue. At only 303 pounds, he should not be too difficult to move for two guys who weigh, at a minimum, a combined 640 pounds.

The problem I see is going to be neutralizing Ratliff and then getting to the second level on time.

Herremans is a fairly athletic guy, so he should not have a hard time getting in front of either Bradie James or Keith Brooking.

Cole and Jean-Gilles, on the other hand, are a serious cause for concern. Neither guy is very quick, nor do they have great feet. Both seem competent at blocking guys who are right across from them, but getting down onto linebackers is going to be a challenge for them.

The concern has to be that in the running game there will be a guy roaming freely. Of course, moving Ratliff off the line is the first priority and doing that should allow LeSean McCoy three or four yards on every carry, but a linebacker moving freely is going to prevent the big gains we're used to out of McCoy.

The passing game also presents a problem. While McGlynn has been very good all year long, I'm not sure if he's ready to handle a guy like Ratliff one-on-one. And if the Cowboys are smart and blitz their inside linebackers, that's what he's going to be asked to do.

If the Cowboys bring both Brooking and James right at the guards, it's going to mean absolutely no help for McGlynn. And because Ratliff shoots a gap, it's going to leave the middle wide open unless the guard can step in and fill where McGlynn and Ratliff have vacated.

If it's Herremans who's being asked to step down, it's not a big deal. But if it's Cole or Jean-Gilles, the same problems arise as in the run game.

Because neither have good feet, they try to lunge at guys and are usually left either on the ground watching the blitzer hit Michael Vick or they're being flagged because they grabbed his jersey and held on for dear life.

Or, in other words, the Cowboys could do the exact same thing they did at the end of last season when they embarrassed the Eagles in consecutive weeks.

They disrupted Donovan McNabb's rhythm by bringing pressure right up the middle, which forced him to roll to either side rather than allowing him to step up into the pocket and make a throw.

Vick is obviously much quicker than McNabb (or anyone else), so it shouldn't be as much of a worry, but if he's caught in the pocket it could mean a lot of big hits.

If the interior of the offensive line can control the triangle (nose tackle and inside linebackers) of the Cowboys' defense, it should be a fairly easy win. The Cowboys don't match up well anywhere else (as far as Eagles offense vs. Cowboys defense is concerned) and should be easy to exploit.

That is, of course, assuming the three guys in the middle do their jobs.
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How poorly did Jason Peters actually play last season?


The dead days of June have come and gone. July 26th marks the beginning of Training Camp for the Eagles and, essentially, the beginning of the football season. But with camp and the new season comes a lot of questions at every position.

First, we'll be looking at the offensive line. Despite what anyone might tell you, it's the most important position on the field -- yes, even more so than quarterback, because even the best quarterbacks don't complete many passes from the turf.

And for the Eagles, there's going to be a lot of questions facing this front five. For example, who is going to make up the front five? Who will be the most improved, who will struggle, and will the five guys on the field be able to perform well enough for what is essentially a rookie quarterback?

Let's discuss.

Key Battle: Center (Nick Cole vs. Mike McGlynn vs. A.Q. Shipley)

This was fairly obvious not only because of the attention the battle has received since starter Jamaal Jackson tore his ACL late last season, but because it's the only true battle along the line.

Personally, I believe the battle is really going to come down to McGlynn vs. Shipley because of the way Cole played at the end of the 2009 season while filling in for Jackson.

Donovan McNabb catches a lot more heat than he deserves (what? in Philly?) for the dreadful display put on by the Eagles' offense in back-to-back losses to the Dallas Cowboys. If we're going to pick out someone to blame, it should be Cole.

Or Jackson's knee, however you want to look at it.

Cole, frankly, was lost. His calls were wrong for a good portion of the game and it led to a lot of blown assignments -- especially along the interior of the line. And one on one with Jay Ratliff, Cole was beaten nearly every snap. And because he couldn't hold his own, Todd Herremans and Max Jean-Gilles were caught trying to bail him out.

The extra effort the had to expend on Ratliff left the B-gap wide open for any blitzing linebacker or safety and it caused fits for McNabb all day long.

For me, putting Cole back out there to run the line would be one of the biggest mistakes Reid has ever made. The extra reps in camp could obviously result in better play, but he's shown the he's simply not strong enough to handle a noseguard and doesn't grasp the system well enough to run the line.

Whether or not McGlynn or Shipley can do what Cole couldn't is yet to be seen, but it's certainly worth a shot. Let those two battle it out and use Cole as the backup at all three spots along the interior of the line.

Result: It's difficult to opine the result of a battle between two unknowns. However, I'm guessing McGlynn is the guy who gets the nod because he's a guy Reid drafted in the fourth round, and he's been around the offense for a couple years.

The experience, however slight, should be enough to give him an edge over Shipley, who is most likely frantically attempting to master a brand new offense.

From there, short of a stint on the PUP by Jackson, it's likely Shipley loses out on a close numbers game.

Who Starts at Right Guard?

Stacy Andrews will be the starter. I don't have any doubt in my mind about that. Reid loves Cole, but Andrews is going to get the first crack at the starting spot and, barring an injury during camp, it's an opportunity I expect him to take.

Saying Andrews was a disappointment last season would be an understatement, but the talent is there and a year removed from knee surgery and entire year to learn the offense should make him the clear favorite.

What Should Be Expected of Jason Peters?

He's being paid like the best left tackle in football, and the Birds gave up a king's ransom to get him, so nothing but an absolute shut-down season should be expected of Peters.

His play last season wasn't as good as it should have been, but he also wasn't nearly as bad as people would claim.

Take for instance, the false start penalties. It seemed like Peters was always getting called for a false start, but a lot of those were the fault of the center.

When the defense jumps over into the neutral zone, it's up to the center to snap the ball and take advantage of a free play. However, regardless of who was playing the position, it never happened and it was missed opportunity after missed opportunity.

So Peters, seemingly knowing the rules better than anyone else along the line, decided he would try to draw the penalty instead. So when the defense would jump into the neutral zone, he would flinch in an effort to force a neutral zone infraction on the defense.

But for whatever reason, the refs didn't give him the call he deserved most of the time. There are times, however, that Peters' plan works and the offense is being marched up five yards. All in all, it probably comes out to a wash.

And also, if you go back and watch the tape, it becomes very clear that Peters is being blamed for sacks that truly are not his fault.

Just because the end was lined up over him at the beginning of the play and eventually made the sack does not mean it was his fault, although that's how most keep track of that stat.

In the NFL, most teams will use a zone-blocking scheme on pass plays. It simply means that every lineman is expected to pick up any guy who comes within their wing-span. So if the end loops around from the C-gap to the A-or-B-gap, he no longer becomes Peters' responsibility.

So while Herremans or Jean-Gilles or Cole were left chasing tail of a man fleeing their zone, the end was allowed to come in free and clear.

Peters most certainly did not play up to par last season and a lot more should be expected of him in 2010, but the criticism is vastly overblown due to the writers doing the criticizing who don't fully comprehend what they're looking at when they're watching the games.

Bold Prediction

Winston Justice will, at the very least, be in talks as a Pro Bowl player. He might not make it because of the broken system the league uses, but at the end of the year he will be a real contender to make the Pro Bowl.

Starting Five Heading into Week One

LT: Jason Peters, LG: Todd Herremans,
C: Mike McGlynn
RG: Stacy Andrews, RT: Winston Justice
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Is a Hank Fraley return to Philadelphia possible?


Jamaal Jackson's knee injury will most likely not allow him to start the season. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see Jackson on the PUP when 2010 kicks off, so the Eagles are going to need a center to fill in for at least six weeks.

Currently, Nick Cole, Mike McGlynn, and A.Q. Shipley are the only guys who can play center on the roster. Cole and McGlynn are guards first who can play center in a squeeze, while Shipley is the only true center.

Shipley, however, is extremely young and has no playing experience. It's going to be difficult for him to pick up the entire offense and be able to make the line calls. Cole had been playing on the line all season long but couldn't make the calls when he was put in the driver's seat, so it's no walk in the park.

Hank Fraley, however, would be a guy who could come in and on day one make all the calls necessary and run this offensive line without a hitch. He did it for five seasons in Philly before spending the last three in Cleveland, so we know he can do it again.

The coach hasn't changed, the quarterback hasn't changed, the offensive coordinator hasn't changed, so coming in and retaking his old position with his former team shouldn't take anything more than a refresher course through training camp.

He will already know the offense and, maybe most importantly, have a rapport with Donovan McNabb. The only obstacle will be the create a rapport with Todd Herremans and whoever starts at right guard (most likely Stacy Andrews).

That, however, will come during the offseason.

The move makes too much sense to ignore. They need a veteran to come in and fill in for Jackson until he's healthy enough to come back, so who better to do it than the guy who lost the job to him in 2006?

Fraley isn't a superstar, but he would certainly be a good option until Jackson gets off the PUP, and could even fill in for the entire season if Jackson has a couple setbacks and is forced to miss all of 2010.
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Can Mike McGlynn direct this offensive line in '10?


With Jamaal Jackson tearing his ACL so late in the season, it makes it very unlikely that he will be ready to play by mid-September. Because of that, the Eagles went out and signed a very young, but very promising, A.Q. Shipley from Penn State.

Shipley will certainly get a shot at the spot, but he's got some competition other than Jackson's recovering knee. The Birds have kept around Mike McGlynn, a center/guard the team drafted before the 2008 season, for just such an occasion.

He's a guy who the Eagles really like and would like to eventually see him mold into a starter for this team if they need him. Well, they need him now, and he will get every opportunity to take the job.

It's going to be a very interesting battle to watch because not only will we be watching to see who is physically better than the other guy, but also to see which guy can pick up the offense the fastest and make all the line calls necessary.

In that aspect, McGlynn has the obvious upper-hand. However, he's not a natural center like Shipley. So the two each have their own obstacles to overcome and it could come down the final few preseason games before a decision is actually made.

The wild card guy here, of course, is Nick Cole. He's an unrestricted free agent and really is more of a guard, but if neither guy can pick up the offense, or the Eagles don't have much faith in either guy picking up the offense, Cole could find himself with a new contract and a tentative starting spot.

But then with Cole, there's the question of whether or not Stacy Andrews will be ready. If he's not, then Cole will have to slide over to right guard -- a spot at which he seems much more comfortable, and is certainly much more effective.

So to summarize, this is going to be an enormous headache for the Birds unless one of these young guys can step up and show that they can take the reigns of this position and this offense.

Or, of course, we could hope for the miracle that Jackson is the fastest healer on the planet.

Either way, the Birds are going to need a small miracle at the center position, or it is going to be a headache all year long. It's going to have more of a negative impact than anyone thinks at this point, and for those who doubt it's a real problem, just take a look at the second half of the Broncos game, then the two Cowboys games.

Let's have a full season of that!
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Nick Cole will have big shoes to fill with Jackson out.


After taking a fall that didn't look to be all that serious, center Jamaal Jackson had to be helped off the field and was walking rather gingerly on the sideline before heading off to the locker room.

Jackson probably knew it as soon as it happened, but we all only got to find out today that Jackson tore his ACL and will miss the rest of this season. Nick Cole will replace him at center while Max Jean-Gilles will step in at right guard. Andy Reid said that Stacy Andrews is "in the mix" with Jean-Gilles.

Reid went on to say that the problem with Stacy is having trust in his knee. He's afraid to stick his leg into the ground and push off of it which is affecting his technique and quickness. Until he can trust in his surgically-repaired knee, Andrews is all but useless.

Mike McGlynn, a 6'5 320 pound Pittsburgh product, will be Cole's backup at center and could see some time at guard as well in an emergency situation.

Losing Jackson definitely hurts. He is the glue that has held together this patchwork offensive line since day one. Without him, the line would have had a much more difficult time coming together and playing the way they have.

That being said, the line has been together long enough that this shuffle should not cause an issue. With an entire week of practice, Cole should be just fine running the line and working on his timing with McNabb.

Jean-Gilles, I believe, can be an upgrade for the Eagles in terms of run-blocking. He's not great in pass protection, but the guy is a road grater who can move even the biggest of defensive tackles with seeming ease.

Cole and Jean-Gilles have worked together before, but they're really going to have to buckle down and get on the same page this week if they're going to stop Jay Ratliff. If they can't, it's going to be a long day for McNabb and the rest of the offense.
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