"I never used to worry that much about tight ends," defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said. "But when they started getting big yards and making plays down in the red zone, that's when you pay more attention to it."
Johnson did more than pay attention to it. He made a couple of fairly significant changes to rectify the situation. The first was giving strong safety Quintin Mikell primary responsibility for covering the tight end on first and second downs.
The second was benching weakside linebacker Omar Gaither after the Eagles' Week 11 tie with Cincinnati and replacing him with the more athletic Akeem Jordan, who generally is matched up against the tight end on passing downs.
Like just about every other move Johnson has made this season, these have paid big dividends. In the last eight games, opposing tight ends have caught just 28 passes and averaged only 8.2 yards per catch.
The starting tight ends for the other three teams in the NFC East - the Cowboys' Jason Witten, the Redskins' Chris Cooley and the Giants' Kevin Boss - combined for 21 receptions, two TDs and a 13.7 yards-per-catch average the first time around against the Eagles. The second time around, the Eagles held them to 12, zero and 6.8.
"Sometimes, you just get into matchups you don't want," Johnson said. "We've been more careful in our matchups. I've used Quintin and Akeem. One of the main reasons I brought Akeem in [as a starter] was to match up with the tight end.
"People say, 'Well, what about Omar?' Omar did a good job. I just felt that Akeem was ready to play. I thought he could do a good job with the run defense, which he has. And I liked his matchup [against the tight end]."
