{"id":2909,"date":"2018-01-29T22:22:27","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T22:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2909"},"modified":"2018-01-29T22:22:27","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T22:22:27","slug":"eagles-success-in-super-bowl-may-rest-with-fletcher-cox-and-his-buddies-on-the-defensive-front-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=2909","title":{"rendered":"Eagles success in Super Bowl may rest with Fletcher Cox and his buddies on the defensive front seven"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TERRY MOSHER<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

FLETCHER COX<\/p>\n

It appears nobody with the proper credentials is picking the Philadelphia Eagles to upset the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52 It just can\u2019t happen, so it seems. So why play the game?<\/p>\n

Well, because the Seattle Seahawks in November of 2016 went to Foxborough and did the impossible. They beat the Patriots 31-24 while four times stopping the Patriots inside the two-yard line in the waning moments of a tense game.<\/p>\n

The key to the Seahawks\u2019 success was simple, and it applies to just about every football game in the NFL: put extreme pressure on the quarterback. Tom Brady may be the best quarterback to play in the league \u2013 although it can be argued that different eras can\u2019t be compared so we won\u2019t ever really know \u2013 but he can be human when teams get to him in the pocket. It isn\u2019t easy to do that because the Patriots do a very good job of protecting him and Brady has a smooth and very quick release of the football that makes it even that much more difficult to get to him.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia, though, may have the best defensive front seven in the NFL and if anybody can get to Brady it is the Eagles. Their front seven starts with the incredible defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (6-4, 310) and continues on with defensive ends Brandon Graham (6-2, 265) and Vinny Curry (6-3, 266), defensive tackle Tim Jernigan (6-2, 295), outside linebackers Mychal Kendricks (5-11, 239) and Nigel Bradham (6-2, 240) and middle linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (6-1, 240). Defensive end Derek Barnett (6-4. 259) rotates in often.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem the Eagles may have if they are to pull off the upset is outfoxing perhaps the best coach in the league \u2013 Bill Belichick. It\u2019s not easy to do this, either. Belichick always seems to have several winkles that expose weaknesses in the Patriots defense.<\/p>\n

And the Patriots don\u2019t beat themselves. They had just one penalty in beating Jacksonville in the AFC Division championship. And they take advantage of mistakes by opponents very well, including penalties.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s easy to see why the Patriots are favored \u2013 they are a five-point pick to win \u2013 to win their sixth Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s human nature to root against the top dawg. We all want to knock him off his perch, and I\u2019m no different. But I also have some dawg in this fight. A friend from my high school says is the father to Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson, who was a three sport all-state star at Ferndale High School six miles north of Bellingham in Whatcom County.<\/p>\n

His father\u2011 Gordy \u2013was a tremendous football player and a good basketball player for Ferndale in the last 1950s. Gordy married the girl across the street from the house I lived in and she is Doug\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m kind of hoping Philadelphia wins. But if goes the way most people expect, Doug will still have a magical year in just his second season as head coach.\u00a0 He took a team that was 7-9 in his first season to this year\u2019s 13-3 regular season record and the NFC championship. Not bad for a Ferndale boy.<\/p>\n

Ok, that\u2019s enough for today. Stay warm and dry because it\u2019s raining cats and dogs, and I pray that you are doing well.<\/p>\n

Be well pal.<\/p>\n

Be careful out there.<\/p>\n

Have a great day.<\/p>\n

You are loved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TERRY MOSHER FLETCHER COX It appears nobody with the proper credentials is picking the Philadelphia Eagles to upset the New…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-column","category-mosher","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2911,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2909\/revisions\/2911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}