Philadelphia Eagles' Asante Samuel, right,
celebrates his interception with teammate
Akeem Jordan (56) during the third quarter
against the Carolina Panthers in an
NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C. Losing
defensive coordinator Jim Johnson,
perennial Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins
and middle linebacker Stewart Bradley was
supposed to weaken the Eagles' defense.
Jake Delhomme and the rest of the Panthers
would say otherwise after they were dominated
by Philadelphia's D in the opener.
PHILADELPHIA — Sean McDermott knows how Jim Johnson would have evaluated his star pupil's debut as defensive co-ordinator.
"He probably would've slapped me on the back and said 'Good job. Now let's see what you can do next week,"' said McDermott, who's in his first season calling the shots for the Philadelphia Eagles.
McDermott's defence - he prefers the term 'our defence' - dominated the Carolina Panthers in Philadelphia's 38-10 season-opening victory. They forced seven turnovers, had five sacks, scored one touchdown and allowed a league-low 169 yards.
Losing Johnson, Brian Dawkins and Stewart Bradley was supposed to weaken Philadelphia's defence. Just ask Jake Delhomme and the rest of the Panthers what they think of the new-look 'D' now.
Drew Brees checked out the film and he doesn't see any difference between McDermott's defence and the one that was so successful under Johnson. Brees, who threw six TD passes for New Orleans against Detroit in the opener, won't have as much time to sit back and pick apart the secondary when the Saints visit Philadelphia on Sunday.
"They've been one of the best defences for a decade, ever since Andy Reid and Jim Johnson have been there," Brees said. "I know that obviously Jim Johnson having passed away and Sean McDermott being the understudy to him, it looks very much the same defence in regard to their scheme and the attitude they play with and the tempo they play with, the speed, the pressure packages. They can give you potentially a lot of looks and you have to be ready."
Johnson, the longtime co-ordinator widely regarded as a defensive genius, lost his battle with cancer in late July. McDermott, a 35-year-old assistant coach, stepped in to fill his mentor's big shoes.
Dawkins, the seven-time Pro Bowl free safety and the heart and soul of the defence, signed a free-agent contract with Denver. He was replaced by Victor 'Macho' Harris, a rookie fifth-round pick who played cornerback in college.
Bradley, the starting middle linebacker and signal caller, sustained a season-ending knee injury in training camp. That allowed Omar Gaither to reclaim his old starting spot.
McDermott's group started slowly at Carolina. It looked like the Eagles might be in for a long day after the Panthers opened the game with a 13-play, 70-yard TD drive that took 8:06 off the clock.
But McDermott turned up the pressure, started blitzing Delhomme from all angles like Johnson used to do, and tried out some of his own wrinkles. One particular twist worked perfectly.
McDermott had defensive end Trent Cole line up in a middle linebacker spot and come with a straight blitz. The startled Panthers didn't touch Cole as he whizzed past the lineman, dumped Delhomme and forced a fumble. Victor Abiamiri picked it up at the 2 and stepped into the end zone to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead.
Abiamiri's score was the turning point in a game that quickly became a rout. But Carolina's first drive motivated the Eagles' defence.
"We don't want anybody to score on us, especially the new 2009 defence," Abiamiri said. "We wanted to come out and establish ourselves as a new defence. We don't want to get scored on no matter what. Whether they're at the 20 or 25 or if we're down by a lot, we don't want anybody scoring on us."
From the second he took the job, McDermott promised his defence would be the same aggressive bunch everyone was used to seeing. McDermott scaled down his calls in the preseason and didn't show opponents many of his packages. But he turned the 'D' loose against the Panthers, and has no intention of letting up all season.
"We want to be aggressive, and that's who we are as a defence, that's who we are as an organization and that won't change," McDermott said. "That doesn't mean we have to blitz every play. Again, we'll have a calculated aggressiveness on every play and try and put our players in a position to execute and make football plays."
Blitzing leads to pressure, which often leads to sacks or turnovers. Sheldon Brown had two interceptions and fellow cornerback Asante Samuel had one pick. Players in the secondary love the aggressive philosophy because it creates more opportunities for them to make big plays.
"It's still Jim's system. It's still the same concept," Brown said. "He did a tremendous job of game-planning and calling it in certain situations, but it's still the same thing."
