It's not even funny how much better the D is when Mark Anderson is playing
*Halftime post*
Really. He was sitting on the first two drives where PHI had the TD and the FG thanks to deep pass (he did play one snap on the 3rd down to force the FG). No, I'm not just cherry picking two bad drives either. Vince Young had a clean pocket to throw in. All day. Even Dierdorf commented on how it looked like the Patriots D-line "couldn't get out of their stance." Why? Well, even with Carter out there, the Eagles would double him. There was a great play where NE ran a stunt (which worked well last week); but PHI shifted the line to Carter's side and he essentially ran into a C and a G. Carter cannot do it alone.
Since the FG, Anderson has been getting virtually every snap. They even shifted Ninkovich to Carter's side when they had to take him out and leave Anderson in. I really think it's a sign that Anderson is, thankfully, going to be more of a permanent presence....
Highlights:
There were two runs at about 9:30 in the 2nd. One when PHI decided to pitch it off tackle to Anderson's side. Anderson stonewalled his man (in a bull rush style). The RB stopped dead in his tracks and reversed course where Nink wrapped him up behind the line. Anderson cannot play the run? BS. The next play, Anderson flew off the LOS, went around the Tackle and still made a tackle behind the LOS on a handoff.
In general the pass rush is way better, because they frequently try to double Anderson. In particular they tried to use a TE to chip him. He can beat it.
You can't stop both Anderson and Carter -- but both have to be out there.
