Kendricks, Eagles aim to avoid sucking wind from Steelers’ runs
PHILADELPHIA >> Get in the way of the Pittsburgh Steelers and their smashmouth running game and you tend to look a little like Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks.
He has a broken nose and a black eye, the result of his helmet crashing down on his beak during a Monday night win over the Chicago Bears.
The fracture has kept him out of practice and forced him to suck oxygen through his mouth.
“There’s a lot of swelling going on in my sinus area so breathing is kind of hard right now,” Kendricks said. “But by the time game time comes, I expect it to be a little better.”
The Eagles need every able linebacker, including Kendricks and 31-yearold vet Stephen Tulloch, to load up against the physical Steelers ground game featuring DeAngelo Williams. In the absence of Le’Veon Bell, who’s suspended, the 33-year-old Williams has become the NFL’s rushing leader.
That’s largely because the offensive line of the Steelers is good and getting better, especially the interior with guards Ramon Foster (6-6, 335) and David DeCastro (6-5, 310), and center Maurkice Pouncey (6-4, 304). All are accomplished secondlevel blockers, which is to say they go headhunting for linebackers, safeties and whoever else is in the way after making their initial contact.
The Eagles are strong at the point of attack with tackle Fletcher Cox (6-4, 310) anchoring the defensive line. The back seven, however, hasn’t had to deal with a punch-you-inthe-face attack operated by a giant quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben is tougher to get on the ground than the running backs. He forces teams to hold their coverage forever, and then some.
“He gets the ball out pretty quick and he can prolong plays,” Kendricks said. “I think what we would have to do is be completely active when we get there. When we get to him, we have to make it count. We can’t let him get out and prolong those plays because sometimes when he gets on the run he’s really dangerous. He keeps his eyes downfield pretty well. A lot of quarterbacks when they feel that pressure they tend to look down and look for the quickest escape route. He’s pretty brave. He’s keeping his eyes downfield, which means we have to stay true to our schemes.”
The Steelers also have Antonio Brown, the elite wide receiver capable of 17 receptions in a game. Markus Wheaton, the burner in the receiver corps, is expected to return this week from a shoulder injury.
The Eagles need a good day from Kendricks, Tulloch, starting middle linebacker Jordan Hicks and strong side linebacker Nigel Bradham. In-game adjustments will be critical.
“The idea, obviously, as the game goes on, is you have to figure out ways to put out fires and also not go too far away from what you are strong at,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “(Bears receiver) Alshon Jeffrey gave us a couple big plays and we were able to get that fire put out a little bit. I think that some of our coverage stuff had to do with it. Some of it had to do with physical play. Tully put a big hit on him and that tends to take a toll on opponents, also.”
The Bengals frustrated Brown last week, limiting him to just four receptions on 11 targets. They did a lot of double-teaming. Schwartz prefers the Steelers try to figure out what he does during the game.
“We know what number he wears, so we won’t have a problem finding him,” Schwartz said of Brown. “But it’s not just him. I mean, they’ve got a track meet of wide receivers. They’ve got some guys that can fly and that can take the top of a defense.”
Add it all together and it’s a GPS check for the defense.
“It’s going to let us know where we really are because they’ve got some good receivers, a good back in DeAngelo Williams and the quarterback is like their bloodline,” said Brandon Graham, who leads the Eagles with two sacks. “That’s who they basically look up to and we’ve got to get to him. If we get to him everything will kind of settle itself. He’s big and he’s good at shaking people off and shimmying and keeping his eyes downfield.”
The Eagles have their work cut out. They’ll have to hold the coverage, turn every rush into a hit on Roethlisberger and hit the field running. And in the case of Kendricks, show up relatively healthy.
Kendricks is icing the nose and trying not to breathe through it.
“I played the game with swabs up my nose,” Kendricks said. “I can still breathe out of my mouth.”