Though they lost, the Eagles did a nice job of disrupting the Patriots' passing game Sunday night. What made the plan effective was the way the Eagles mixed the rushes, as they truly blitzed (more than four rushers) 50 percent of the time (30 times on 60 dropbacks). Here is our breakdown of the pressure, and what the Patriots did against it (passing stats include sacks in the "attempts" category):
Three-man rush
3 of 3 for 26 yards
Add one dropback for a Tom Brady 12-yard scramble
Four-man rush
13 of 26 for 168 yards
Brady sacked once (seemed to be coverage-based more than a result of pressure)
Randy Moss offensive pass interference call came against four-man rush
Five-man rush
11 of 17 for 88 yards
Brady sacked once (Nick Kaczur didn't hold block on Juqua Thomas)
16-yard pass to Jabar Gaffney, which sealed game, came against five-man rush
Six-man rush
4 of 7 for 40 yards
Add one dropback for a Brady 5-yard scramble
Seven-man rush
3 of 5 for 58 yards
Gaffney's 19-yard touchdown came against seven-man pressure
Brady sacked once when Eagles overloaded left side
